Afrikanists, May I have those who are well vested in coalition politics to help me understand the concept of forming coalitions. If after elections you decide as a party to enter into coalition with another party, which mandate will you carry to government? Do you continue to implement your own party manifesto or the coalition agreement now becomes the new mandate? Are these coalitions binding for a specific term? Or can you change from issue to issue?
If the assumption is that the electorate vote for a party on the basis of their election manifesto then the electorate will have to hold the party concerned to their promises as detailed in their manifesto. Now if the party fails to secure outright majority and it ends up forming coalitions, then what happens to the original manifesto of that party? Is this not a new form of the outlawed floor crossing? Democracy the way we have come to understand it, is about majority rule. Therefore it follows that if the so called bigger political parties fail to secure majority votes to govern, then they must approach the so called smaller parties to form coalitions. Does this mean that the smaller political party have to collapse into the bigger party in the form of coalition? Clearly you may be given the highest office being a smaller party but you will not be able to implement what you have promised in your manifesto, because you perhaps came into coalition with one seat. I don't think that you enter into coalition as equal partners because of the majority rule principle. Consequently who becomes the leader of coalitions will depend on who holds the majority within the coalition. Will I be correct if I conclude that coalition politics is about bigger political parties who need smaller parties for them to implement their manifesto. No wonder why smaller political parties are often referred to as "king makers". What really happens behind closed doors of coalition agreements? Or is it more about Kings (bigger political parties) going to "king makers" (smaller political parties) and simply ask them to govern with their consent. Therefore the bigger political parties stand to gain always when it comes to coalitions. They "Bigger Political Parties" simply approach smaller parties to join them in coalition to implement their own manifesto. These so called big parties must sell their ideas of governance to small parties and convince these small parties to join them in coalition. What do small parties stand to gain other than access to resources? Wondering... Izwe Lethu iAfrika, Lest We Forget! Leaga Lesufi Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you! -- Sending your posting to [email protected] Unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com
