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The country has had a tumultuous past with lots of political infighting, the last happened in when then Prime Minister Thomas Thabane had to flee the country for South Africa. A statement from John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, congratulates the people of Lesotho for the free, credible elections just held.
Hopefully compromise and common sense will prevail this time and extreme partisanship and short term political gambling put on hold. Democracy is about competition with those winning most of the votes being able to govern. Democracy is also about cooperation and being able to reach out to those who lost.
Democracy should be inclusive with ways for the people to have a voice heard beyond the casting of their votes. Unfortunately representative democracy is in a deep crisis.
The citizenry is losing faith in the politicians they vote for. As a consequence many people lost trust in mainstream parties and are pulled by radical parties preaching change.
This is what happens in Europe right now. Each country faces different challenges but a truly democratic framework allows people to express themselves directly or through civil society. The more open the framework is, the more people will feel part of it rather than feeling sidelined and marginalized like is happening in Europe. The common thinking is that people in a country like Lesotho just think about meeting their basic needs, they do not really care about voting or democracy.
I think the assumptions at the base of this way of thinking are wrong. You might be poor and living in deplorable conditions but real democracy from the bottom can give you entitlement and a sense of agency, of belonging. Rhetoric as it might sound, democracy should per se on the concept of good and participatory governance: Volunteerism or service can play a very important role in fostering a sense of living in a community where you feel empowered simply because you know that your voice is heard and your action counts.
Think of those really at the margins in society like Lesotho.
Obviously meeting primary needs is a question of survival but then if allowed to vote freely, if allowed to express themselves, if there are venues to lodge complaints, if the justice system is ruled according to principles of fairness, then the same people living at the margins can feel a sense of empowerment. They can feel and see that there might be a way out of their misery. Hope must be nourished and it starts with small things at the ground level.
Being able to send their children to school without paying a bribe, not feeling humiliated or discriminated simply because you are from a different group or caste or you speak a different language are essential traits of a society that is laying the foundations for a brighter future. Hopefully this election in Lesotho will set a new beginning but all over the world a general rethinking about the true features of democracy must take place.
Democracy must be real.
Democracy does not give you food but, if practiced genuinely, it is a real enabler for positive changes in society. The idea is simple: Please fell free to contact us. I co-led a 5-day intensive at my home with Michael, my partner, over the summer on Healing Traumatized Soul Parts — deep healing work.
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