One of my friends on face book, John Okwori this morning in
response to one of my shared story on the Punch Newspaper (8th December,
2013) on the efforts been made by the leadership of the Peoples
Democratic Party to stopped the planned massive defection of its
membership in the House of Representatives to the All;
Progressives Congress in the wake of the defection of Five Governors
to the PDP to the APC asked me a pointed, intriguing and knotty
question. John Okwori asked thus:“ Chief, I suppose APC are credible
opposition to be credible opposition to APC why are they accepting
members of PDP believed to be corrupt”.
My answer to the question of Okwori was thus: “Why wouldn’t APC
accept PDP members who voluntarily decide to leave their Party and join
the APC in exercise of their constitutional right of Freedom of
Association. It is not possible to decree that some class of people
would not be accepted in a Political Party.
This will also constitutes an infraction of the constitutional
provision that prohibits discrimination against anybody on ground of
class, race, ethnicity, political thought and gender. In law there is
nothing like guilty by association. There is also no vicarious
responsibility in criminal law.
It is therefore not correct to brand everybody in PDP corrupt because
some others are perceived to be corrupt. It is just not possible to
practice political Puritanism in a pluralistic political environment
such as Nigeria, so the APC is right to accept all sort or motley of
crowd that clamours for its membership to enable it push out the PDP.
After that the wheat shall be separated from the chaff. It will amount
to political naivety to close the APC from those are running away from
the PDP just to play to the gallery that APC is progressive and anti
corruption”.
Obviously Okwori spoke the minds of many Nigerians why have been
questioning the progressive credentials of the APC for accepting
disillusioned and disenchanted members of the PDP into its fold. As I
pointed out previously it is just not possible to practice political
Puritanism at this point in time in the constitutional and political
evolution of the country.
It is clear that the PDP is one of the multifarious problems
confronting and grappling the country. So the reality on ground now is
for all nationalist and progressives forces and groups that are appalled
with the failings of the PDP to coalesce to push out the PDP in order
to create a conductive environment to carry out a comprehensive and
fundamental political, social and economic restricting of the country.
I will draw an inspiration on the thesis I am labouring to propound
from the experience of the Republic of Georgia where fractionalization
of the ruling party; fragmentation of the political elite and the
massive defection of members to other political parties was one of the
factors that precipitated the Rose Revolution took place in November,
2003 that led to the political and economic reform that has changed the
fortunes of that country for good.
Georgia is a country found in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. It is
in the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. . It was until
1991, known as the Georgian Socialist Republic and part of the defunct
Soviet Union following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917. After
independence in 1991, Georgia suffered from intractable civil unrest
and economic crisis for most of the 1990s that culminated in the Rose
Revolution.
The Rose Revolution erupted in November, 2003 after the opposition
accused the government of President Eduard Shevardnadze of rigging the
parliamentary election. The uproar generated by the ballot rigging
allegation led to massive street protests that led to the collapsed of
government. The ranks of the ruling Citizens’ Union of Georgia (CUG)was
decimated and depleted by massive defection to the opposition political
parties. The CUG has been ruling party for most of President Eduard
Shevardnadze ‘s presidency and represented the interest of
Shevardnadze’s loyalists. The ineffectiveness and incompetence of
government and plummeting popularity led to massive defection of
parliamentary deputies in 2000 and numerous party officials from the CUG
Party.
The first group to leave was the business caucus and it would go on
to form to the New Rights Party(NRP) in 2000.This began the collapse of
the ruling CUG and led to formation of several other splinter political
parties. President Eduard Shevardnadze himself abandoned the Party and
resigned as the Chairman in September, 2001.
The Minister of Justice, Mikheil Saakashvili left the CUG in
September, 2001 and formed the National Opposition Movement Party in
October, 2001. The defection from the ruling party continued unabated
and left the Citizens’ Union of Georgia greatly weakened and its support
base eroded and clustered in a few regions of the Country and a
leadership notorious for the accumulation of illegal wealth taking
advantage of it position in government and dispersed the political elite
amongst a number of new parties and independent platforms.
These opposition political parties did not reject these decampees
from the Citizens’ Union of Georgia simply because the Party was
corrupt and believed to be responsible for the political and economic
woes of Georgia.
I hold the view that it is wrong for people to judge the APC bases on
the people that are joining it from the PDP. The APC should be judge
from a dispassionate and objective examination and analysis of its
manifesto to determine whether or not it a progressive political party
out to chart a new cause for the country.
Okoi Obono-Obla
9th December, 2013
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