President Goodluck Jonathan was in pole position to win the presidential ticket of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP when true friends and secret foes fouled the polity with the right of first refusal as the norm in advanced democracies that should be copied.
Even given the propensity of political parties to lace their processes with propaganda, the doctrine of right of first refusal is an unusual lie that would neither do the president any good nor advance the cause of democracy in the country
Whether it was an unknown gaffe or a deliberate act of distortion, minders of the Goodluck Jonathan second term project have sought to portray the right of first refusal of performing incumbents to a second term as the vogue in advanced democracies especially in the United States.
Goodluck Jonathan
“He (Jonathan) now has the right of first refusal and this is in keeping with the precedent in other countries, where democracy is being practised, especially in the US,” former party chairman and presently chairman of the peace and integration committee of the party in the Southeast, Col. Ahmadu Ali (rtd) claimed in support of the move that was concreted with the president’s adoption by the National Executive Committee, NEC penultimate Thursday.
Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State last Wednesday also justified it as an act of deepening internal democracy in the party copied from the United States.
He said: “The adoption by PDP’s NEC is democracy in action. In US that we are copying, the incumbent president does not go through primaries. We are not saying that the president will not face the general elections. So the idea of him spending presidential time instead of facing insurgency, food insufficiency and other things that may affect the country and begin to campaign for the party ticket when he is already the incumbent president is what we want to avoid. I think this is a very fantastic model of internal democracy.”
Speaking minutes after he was endorsed by the National Executive Committee, NEC of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP penultimate Thursday, President Jonathan had echoed the same belief saying:
“When the party leaders endorsed me, by that endorsement I have the right of first refusal. That is what is done in advanced democracies. It shows clearly that the PDP is advancing.
“There are no dictators in the PDP. There is no one that is so powerful to determine who becomes councillor, local government chairman, state House of Assembly member, House of Representatives member, senator, governor, and even president, in the PDP.
“The decision is by the people, for the people, and that is why the PDP will continue to do new things and give right leadership.”
Undoubtedly the decision to adopt the president for a second term may be defended in some quarters based on achievements in certain sectors, notably railway, road infrastructure, aviation and recently, power.
However, the argument among many partisans of the president has been that performance should automatically translate into the right of the incumbent president to a right to a second term. The argument for a right of first refusal for the president was initiated in early 2013 by the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih at a regional summit of South-South leaders of the party in Asaba.
However, contrary to the argument of the supporters of the arrangement that the right of first refusal is the tradition in advanced democracies especially in the United States from where Nigeria adopted its presidential system of government, the contrary is the practise.
All incumbent first term presidents in the United States in living memory have been challenged from within their parties for a second term. The practise, however, is that in almost all cases with the notable exception of 1968 when the wartime president, Mr. Lyndon Johnson was forced to abandon his campaign, all other incumbent presidents have since 1960 won their party tickets. But not without a challenge. Those that had serious challengers almost always lost the general election even after winning the party ticket.
Past examples
Examples include President Gerald Ford who survived a serious challenge from Governor Ronald Reagan in the Republican Party primaries of 1976 but eventually lost to the Democratic Candidate, Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia in the main presidential election.
Four years later, President Carter was mortally bruised in the 1980 Democratic Party by the challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy, and not surprisingly, lost to the Republican candidate, Governor Reagan in the main presidential election.
The practise of internal challenge is a culture but only that in almost all cases, the incumbent presidents have through organisation and superiority of funds overwhelmed opposition to a second term ticket.
Unknown to many people, President Barrack Obama even as an incumbent was challenged by a number of other presidential contenders in his own party for the 2012 presidential ticket, but he won massively with a handsome 88% of the popular votes as his nearest challenger, John Wolfe Jnr. a Tennessee attorney, took about 1.5% of the popular votes.
President George W. Bush in 2004 as the incumbent president really faced no serious challenger and went on to win 98.1% of the primary votes mainly on account of his popularity, arising from the capture in 2003, of the deposed Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein.
President Bill Clinton as the incumbent on the platform of the Democratic Party was in 1996 challenged by Lyndon LaRouche, a political activist who sought the Democratic Party presidential ticket between 1976 and 2004. What could have been a serious challenge to Clinton by a former governor of Pennsylvania, Bob Casey did not materialise on account of the ill-health of the former governor.
The last serious challenge to an incumbent president was in 1992 when the conservative columnist and broadcaster, Pat Buchannan challenged President George Bush for the Republican ticket. Buchannan eventually pulled off more than 22% of the votes in a contest but without winning a single state. President Bush who won the ticket eventually lost to Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas.
Even the iconic President Ronald Reagan as the Republican incumbent was challenged in 1984 by two fringe candidates, Harold Stassen and Benjamin Fernandez who respectively polled 0.19% and 0.00% of the votes while the president rode home with more than 98.7% of the total votes.
However, the elections in 1976 and 1980 were defined by the internal challenges received by the incumbents at that time. President Ford was mortally bruised after winning the Republican primary by 53% to the 45% of the popular votes of party members in a challenge that saw the president win 27 states while Governor Reagan pulled out 25 states. It was not surprising that President Ford lost in the main election to Governor Jimmy Carter.
President Carter was himself seriously damaged four years later when he was forced into a contest by two prominent politicians, Senator Ted Kennedy and
Governor Jerry Brown of California. Carter prevailed in the primaries winning 51% of the popular votes and carrying 37 states to the 38% and 3% respectively won by Kennedy and Brown. Kennedy also won 11 states in the primary contest which helped to damage Carter who lost in the main election to Governor Reagan.
Though incumbent presidents have in all cases won their party tickets, but those in recent times like Ford (1976), Carter (1980) and Bush (1992) who faced serious challenges all lost the bid for re-election. It is also a fact that all three presidents that served one term in the last fifty years were those who faced serious challenges from within the party.
There was, however, the unique case of President Lyndon Johnson who after losing badly in the early state contests in 1968 quickly withdrew on his own.
Hence the effort by some in the PDP to erect a foundation for the right of first refusal on a wrong foundation is bound to cause unease among Nigerian democrats. Given the examples of Presidents Ford, Carter and Bush, it is understandable for the party men to protect the president.
But doing so on a platform of outright lie would neither do the country any good nor project the president in good light.
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Even given the propensity of political parties to lace their processes with propaganda, the doctrine of right of first refusal is an unusual lie that would neither do the president any good nor advance the cause of democracy in the country
Whether it was an unknown gaffe or a deliberate act of distortion, minders of the Goodluck Jonathan second term project have sought to portray the right of first refusal of performing incumbents to a second term as the vogue in advanced democracies especially in the United States.
Goodluck Jonathan
“He (Jonathan) now has the right of first refusal and this is in keeping with the precedent in other countries, where democracy is being practised, especially in the US,” former party chairman and presently chairman of the peace and integration committee of the party in the Southeast, Col. Ahmadu Ali (rtd) claimed in support of the move that was concreted with the president’s adoption by the National Executive Committee, NEC penultimate Thursday.
Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State last Wednesday also justified it as an act of deepening internal democracy in the party copied from the United States.
He said: “The adoption by PDP’s NEC is democracy in action. In US that we are copying, the incumbent president does not go through primaries. We are not saying that the president will not face the general elections. So the idea of him spending presidential time instead of facing insurgency, food insufficiency and other things that may affect the country and begin to campaign for the party ticket when he is already the incumbent president is what we want to avoid. I think this is a very fantastic model of internal democracy.”
Speaking minutes after he was endorsed by the National Executive Committee, NEC of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP penultimate Thursday, President Jonathan had echoed the same belief saying:
“When the party leaders endorsed me, by that endorsement I have the right of first refusal. That is what is done in advanced democracies. It shows clearly that the PDP is advancing.
“There are no dictators in the PDP. There is no one that is so powerful to determine who becomes councillor, local government chairman, state House of Assembly member, House of Representatives member, senator, governor, and even president, in the PDP.
“The decision is by the people, for the people, and that is why the PDP will continue to do new things and give right leadership.”
Undoubtedly the decision to adopt the president for a second term may be defended in some quarters based on achievements in certain sectors, notably railway, road infrastructure, aviation and recently, power.
However, the argument among many partisans of the president has been that performance should automatically translate into the right of the incumbent president to a right to a second term. The argument for a right of first refusal for the president was initiated in early 2013 by the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih at a regional summit of South-South leaders of the party in Asaba.
However, contrary to the argument of the supporters of the arrangement that the right of first refusal is the tradition in advanced democracies especially in the United States from where Nigeria adopted its presidential system of government, the contrary is the practise.
All incumbent first term presidents in the United States in living memory have been challenged from within their parties for a second term. The practise, however, is that in almost all cases with the notable exception of 1968 when the wartime president, Mr. Lyndon Johnson was forced to abandon his campaign, all other incumbent presidents have since 1960 won their party tickets. But not without a challenge. Those that had serious challengers almost always lost the general election even after winning the party ticket.
Past examples
Examples include President Gerald Ford who survived a serious challenge from Governor Ronald Reagan in the Republican Party primaries of 1976 but eventually lost to the Democratic Candidate, Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia in the main presidential election.
Four years later, President Carter was mortally bruised in the 1980 Democratic Party by the challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy, and not surprisingly, lost to the Republican candidate, Governor Reagan in the main presidential election.
The practise of internal challenge is a culture but only that in almost all cases, the incumbent presidents have through organisation and superiority of funds overwhelmed opposition to a second term ticket.
Unknown to many people, President Barrack Obama even as an incumbent was challenged by a number of other presidential contenders in his own party for the 2012 presidential ticket, but he won massively with a handsome 88% of the popular votes as his nearest challenger, John Wolfe Jnr. a Tennessee attorney, took about 1.5% of the popular votes.
President George W. Bush in 2004 as the incumbent president really faced no serious challenger and went on to win 98.1% of the primary votes mainly on account of his popularity, arising from the capture in 2003, of the deposed Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein.
President Bill Clinton as the incumbent on the platform of the Democratic Party was in 1996 challenged by Lyndon LaRouche, a political activist who sought the Democratic Party presidential ticket between 1976 and 2004. What could have been a serious challenge to Clinton by a former governor of Pennsylvania, Bob Casey did not materialise on account of the ill-health of the former governor.
The last serious challenge to an incumbent president was in 1992 when the conservative columnist and broadcaster, Pat Buchannan challenged President George Bush for the Republican ticket. Buchannan eventually pulled off more than 22% of the votes in a contest but without winning a single state. President Bush who won the ticket eventually lost to Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas.
Even the iconic President Ronald Reagan as the Republican incumbent was challenged in 1984 by two fringe candidates, Harold Stassen and Benjamin Fernandez who respectively polled 0.19% and 0.00% of the votes while the president rode home with more than 98.7% of the total votes.
However, the elections in 1976 and 1980 were defined by the internal challenges received by the incumbents at that time. President Ford was mortally bruised after winning the Republican primary by 53% to the 45% of the popular votes of party members in a challenge that saw the president win 27 states while Governor Reagan pulled out 25 states. It was not surprising that President Ford lost in the main election to Governor Jimmy Carter.
President Carter was himself seriously damaged four years later when he was forced into a contest by two prominent politicians, Senator Ted Kennedy and
Governor Jerry Brown of California. Carter prevailed in the primaries winning 51% of the popular votes and carrying 37 states to the 38% and 3% respectively won by Kennedy and Brown. Kennedy also won 11 states in the primary contest which helped to damage Carter who lost in the main election to Governor Reagan.
Though incumbent presidents have in all cases won their party tickets, but those in recent times like Ford (1976), Carter (1980) and Bush (1992) who faced serious challenges all lost the bid for re-election. It is also a fact that all three presidents that served one term in the last fifty years were those who faced serious challenges from within the party.
There was, however, the unique case of President Lyndon Johnson who after losing badly in the early state contests in 1968 quickly withdrew on his own.
Hence the effort by some in the PDP to erect a foundation for the right of first refusal on a wrong foundation is bound to cause unease among Nigerian democrats. Given the examples of Presidents Ford, Carter and Bush, it is understandable for the party men to protect the president.
But doing so on a platform of outright lie would neither do the country any good nor project the president in good light.
from wapbaze.com feed http://ift.tt/1Bgfpfi
via IFTTT
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