As Africa rises, tolerance for strong-man attitudes in elections should decline: says ECA's Carlos Lopes

UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr. Carlos Lopes has said that Africa’s rise may see a decline in strong-man attitudes during electoral processes. Mr. Lopes was speaking at the 3-day eighth edition of the African Governance Forum that ends on 18 October in Gaborone, Botswana. “As Africa grows, more and more of its citizens become better informed and urbanized; they will expect a bigger participation and a different political dispensation,” he said. In remarks focused on elections and the intricacies of its recent developments in Africa, Mr. Lopes underscored that when elections are denuded of substance and value, they lose their intrinsic benefits. “Deep structural economic inequalities, social polarization amongst groups, communities, and individuals, or unstable political transitions can exacerbate electoral violence,” he said. He informed the Forum that although elections have become more regular in Africa, their “quality and credibility are increasingly being called to question. Fifteen presidential and 20 parliamentary elections were organized in 2011 and another 15 presidential and 20 parliamentary elections scheduled for 2012, said Lopes. These processes, are however, marked by confusion, technical difficulties, participatory and inclusiveness challenges or are conducted in a rush manner.

Bibliographic Details

Format:	Press release biblioteca
Language:	eng
Published:	2012-10
Online Access:	https://repository.uneca.org/handle/10855/32285
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