I WILL borrow from Sir Winston Churchill. He once said that ''our democracy is not the best, but it is the best we have''. In a very polite way, it sounded like he was telling the world that despite faults in the British democracy, the world should learn to live with it.
The British can enjoy the luxury of being subtly or overtly defiant, so can the Americans and any other nation with more than just a little muscle to flex like China. For countries with paper weight, for a leader to take that route may be perilous. The likes of Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti can testify to that.
Zambians went to polls a few days back. The results surprised many, one is forced to believe, after the opposition candidate, Michael Sata, was elected president. As if he too did not believe it, he was quickly sworn in as president of the republic, just in case someone out there had different ideas. It could also be that he didn't want to miss a grand entrance in New York as a head of state.
Whatever the reason, in a continent that rarely results in an anti-incumbent vote, Zambians are also quickly carving a niche for themselves as a people who are least interested when incumbents croon sweet nothings.
A former police officer, Sata is known to be an abrasive politician. It is said that when he became governor of Lusaka during the administration of Kenneth Kaunda, he made his mark as a man of action with a hands on approach. He cleaned up streets, patched roadways and built bridges in the city.
It has also been reported that earlier in his campaign, Sata accused Chinese mining firms of having slave-like labour conditions and ignoring safety standards and local cultural practices. But it might have been more of campaign rhetoric to garner more votes because, like anyone who understands the pragmatic demands of governing a poor country would have done, he later toned down the rhetoric against the mining firms.
With Chinese companies investing US$2 billion by the end of 2010 in the Zambian economy, the status of Chinese business ties with Zambia, Africa's largest copper producer, grew significantly. As a result of Sata's rhetoric, there were also concerns about the future investment climate in the country after his election victory.
After Sata toned down his rhetoric he did not differ much from the outgoing president, Rupiah Banda. While in the 2006 election China had threatened to cut diplomatic relations with Zambia if Sata was elected due to his criticisms of Chinese mining interests in the country, China is said to have issued a statement welcoming Friday's results.
Why the change of heart, one can never speak for Sata. But it is all too evident; he was going about throwing around his paper weight before he was cut down to size by some real Hercules. That is our democracy. And it makes one wonder, do we really need an expensive democratic process of holding periodic elections just to change faces and continue living in misery?
After all, more often than not they are marred by violence and in extreme circumstance many lives are lost. Hungry folks need food on their tables and not penny-pinching handsome suitors who leave them starving after taking off with their unblemished daughters.
We go around promising people a better life but when the sun sets we know for sure that we are never bringing home the bacon. One can only wish the best to Sata, perhaps his firebrand style of politics may gain him some sort of leverage when dealing with foreign suitors.
Our democracies are not the best, but they certainly could be better. We need to draw the line between campaign rhetoric and pragmatic demands of governing. Let us stop promising our people what we know we cannot deliver. Giving a people false hopes is very much like blindly sending them to the gallows.
And then we might need to find the audacity to let the suitors know that if they want something from us, then they will have to deal on our terms. But while at it, please don't wake me, because I am enjoying this dream!
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