Political Parties in Africa: Challenges for Sustained Multiparty

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Political Parties in Africa: Challenges for Sustained Multiparty Democracy same region (north versus south, as in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon), or language base (Amhara versus Oromo in Ethiopia). In politicized ethnicity, the identity of ethnic groups is not necessarily racial; during elections ethnic groups tend to forge regional, linguistic or religious identities. Second, apart from Lesotho (the Basotho National Party) and Ethiopia’s coalition of ethnically-based political parties or rather organizations (the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Forces (EPRDF)), African political parties tend not to use the names of the ethnic group or groups which make up the majority of their constituencies. The party name most commonly reflects an ideological orientation (socialist, social democratic, liberal or conservative) but not an ethnic one. Third, countries with strong ethnic majorities (such as Mauritania, Zimbabwe and Nigeria) are not politically more (or less) stable than countries with several smaller ethnic groups (such as Benin, Kenya, Tanzania or Sierra Leone). The existence of a multitude of ethnic groups also heightens the expectations that both ethnic groups and political elite expectations place on each other. Table 3.2: Voter behaviour in elections in ten African states, 1995–9 Country Type of election Remarks Ghana Presidential Parliament Kenya Presidential National Assembly Lesotho National Assembly and Senate Malawi Presidential and National Assembly Mali Presidential National Assembly Niger National Assembly Presidential New Patriotic Party (66% of the vote), which secured Akan/Ewe support, but also gained support from a variety of smaller ethnic groups Kenya African National Union (51.6% of the vote), elite pact, alliance of small ethnic groups, with larger ones (i.e. Lou and Kikuyu) Lesotho Congress for Democracy (60.7% of the vote) and Basotho National Party. Basotho; formally Basutoland National Party United Democratic Front (46.4% of the vote). Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuko, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde Alliance for Democracy in Mali (87% of the vote). Bambari, Fulani, Songhai. Opposition: mainly Tuareg, Moors and Bella National Independent Union for Democratic Renewal (70% of the vote). Hausa and Djerma Sierra Leone House of Representatives Sierra Leone People’s Party (36.1%), United National People’s Party (21.6%) and People’s Democratic Party (15.3%) of the vote. Temne, Mende, Creole
Country Type of election Remarks International Idea Zambia General elections Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) (60.8% of the vote). Main ethnic groups include Bemba and Luapula, on the one hand, and Chinyanaia, Lozi and Tonga, with different constellations of party support Zimbabwe House of Assembly Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front (82.3% of the vote). Ethnic divisions emanating from the late years of independence (Shona, with whom power rests, versus Ndbele) Nigeria Presidential House of Representatives Senate People’s Democratic Party (57.2%). Yuroba/Igbo provided the main ethnic base, with the opposition consisting of the northern-dominated Fulani/Huasa alliance with All People’s Party and Alliance for Democracy Source: Compiled from Mohamed Salih, M. A., African Democracies and African Politics (London: Pluto Press, 2001), pp. 37–8. Fourth, the dominance of elite pacts is also a reflection of ethnic group pacts. While elections are fought on the basis of the support chiefs lend to one political party or another, after the elections, political pacts or coalitions are forged without reference to the constituencies. Although African political parties are modern, they appeal to ethnicity exploited and mobilized in a classic populist fashion in combination with linguistic, religious and regional cleavages. Because a single ethnic group may speak more than one language (and more than two ethnic groups may belong to the same language group), the correlation between ethnic and linguistic affiliation could at times lead to the one being mistaken for the other. For instance, in Ethiopia, where political organizations such as ethnic liberation movements (rather than political parties in the strict sense) are permitted under the constitution, the conflation of language and ethnicity is more apparent. The case of Ethiopia is different from that of most other African countries, where the formation of political parties based on ethnicity or religion is banned by the constitution. Table 3.3 illustrates the diversity of African languages and the complexities they present for the formation of state-wide political parties where language—the main medium of communication—could be deployed to cement national integration through the aggregation of different language groups’ interests. Some of these groups cannot even communicate with each other in any language other than the official national language (often a European language, and in other cases Arabic), and much also depends on the level of illiteracy among the members of particular language or ethnic groups. Context
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Chapter 7 Conclusions and Recommend
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Acronyms and Abbreviations ACE Admi
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References and Select Bibliography
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Kadima, Denis, (ed.), The Politics
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—‘Building Political Parties: R
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About the Authors Per Nordlund is a
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