Democratic Alliance proposals for electoral system are a cut above

The proposals submitted by the Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille at a media briefing in Parliament on Wednesday offer, in my humble opinion, a vastly improved electoral system with which to safeguard South Africa’s fledgling democracy, reduce cronyism and limit the number of passengers that parties are able to carry into an election.

They are worthy of serious consideration, across party lines, because not only do they offer the country more stability and accountability, they also offer parties tangible reasons why, at least in 75% of cases, only those candidates suitable to govern this country should be put forward to the electorate. In other words, a compelling excuse for leaving out the bulk of those cadres who do not come up to scratch.

While there are a number of proposals which you can go through by clicking on the link above, there are a couple I would like to highlight in order to demonstrate why these policies are in the interest of all parties and the country as a whole. You are more than welcome to raise all the other issues set out in the article in the comments section below.

“Firstly, the DA proposed the direct election of the president, premiers and mayors.

“Secondly, we propose a mixed proportional representation (PR) — constituency electoral system to elect MPs and MPLs,” she said.

This would create a direct link between voters and their constituency MPs to increase accountability without destroying the principle of proportionality.

The DA suggested 75% of MPs (270) be elected from 90 constituencies, each of which would have three MPs, and 25% (90) would come from party lists and be allocated in such a way that the overall total number of MPs from each political party would be in direct proportion to that party’s share of the votes cast. (IOL)

Using these proposals let us examine for example where that would leave an ANC voter and the ANC:

As things stand right now the average ANC voters do not have a material say in who their candidates should be nor the quality of those individuals who will be placed on the lists and submitted for election. ANC branches select the candidates while national and provincial list committees, guided by the ANC list guidelines adopted by the NEC, do a sifting process.

The ANC membership, who select the candidates, make up only a small percentage of the party’s overall support base. In 2004/5 for example the membership was standing at around 440 000 while the support base came in at just over 10.8-million people. Accordingly, when the ideals and policies of the ANC are ignored or corruption and cronyism rear their ugly heads, your average voter has no way of “punishing” the offenders.

They are not given any say in the selection of the candidates unless they are members of the party and cannot use their votes to show displeasure at the conduct of certain candidates, particularly where the person concerned is directly responsible for their affairs.

If, however, 75% of MPs were elected from constituencies, that would all change. If the party refuses to hold politicians accountable for their actions and puts them forward as a candidate at the next election then both candidate and party would be one seat worse off. In a constituency the voter has the choice of a specific individual standing for a party against other individuals representing other parties. This in place of simply voting for a party that submits a list of names — some of whom you like, others whom you could quite easily live without. Now it is up to the voter, not the party, to finally decide which candidates get to go to parliament. Those candidates who fall down and are not held accountable by the party or the government will find the voters waiting for them at the next election.

Needless to say this will strengthen the parties themselves because the quality of their candidates would improve, ensure that they give their full attention to better service delivery and rid them of deadweights who let the side down.

Of course it would also reduce corruption and improve performance. If the government fails to deliver on promises the electorate will make the candidates pay. If members are caught with their hands in the cookie jar but are not held accountable by their party then both party and candidate will feel the effects come election time.

I am aware of the fact that proportional representation was implemented to assist the smaller parties who might not have had sufficient voters in individual constituencies to achieve anything like a reasonable number of seats. Both Cope and the Democratic Alliance are of sufficient substance to put the ANC to the test with the safety net of that remaining 25% or 90 seats to reflect the percentage parties achieved at the polls.

Overall, a far better system because it affords voters more say in which candidates are suitable for government, provides better checks and balances and keeps all parties on their toes.

In terms of the president being chosen by the electorate rather than the majority party the benefits are obvious:

Firstly, he/she would no longer feel obliged to simply rubber stamp the decisions of the ruling party but would give careful consideration to the views of the country as a whole. In this way he/she (God forbid /it) would act as a balance to the ruling party and the government. His/her primary loyalty, out of necessity, would be to the country that votes him/her in or out.

Secondly, parties would have to think long and hard about who they put forward as their candidate. The delegates at the national conference would have to factor in whether the country would accept their choice. If they don’t they might land up as the ruling party sans president. ANC voters who are not keen on the choice could vote for the party but select a president they feel is more suitable to the post.

Thirdly, the voters would feel that they have decision-making powers as to who the leader of their country should be. No longer would it be a case of having to accept whoever the ruling party foists upon them. Instead of a few thousand delegates choosing the next president, South Africa as a whole would make that all important decision.

In addition, I would like to see strategic posts like Chief Justice, Chief of Police and the head of the National Prosecuting Authority decided in the same way.

The effect that all of this would have in improving the quality of our politicians, ensuring accountability and safeguarding our democracy, would be immense.

Chalk one up for Helen Zille and her team.