By Gregory Mthembu-Salter International IDEA today launched a new book, entitled Political Parties in Africa: Challenges for Sustained Multiparty Democracy at an international conference in Johannesburg focussed on sustaining Africa's democratic momentum.
The book, authored by Mohamed Salih and Per Nordlund, argues that in most African countries, political parties are little more than instruments used by elites to capture the state, with little discernible ideology beyond taking and holding on to power.
Based on research and analysis of 75 political parties in 30 African countries, International IDEA found that most were extremely centralised and lacked local branches or indeed any internal democracy to speak of, and also excluded women, even in countries where progress had been made in achieving a better gender balance in the national legislature.
Salih told the conference the book was intended to provoke and inform an agenda for reforming Africa's political parties, particularly on the vexed issue of funding, which the book shows is often plagued by corruption and abuse of state resources.
Asked whether he could identify a single African political party that set an example of good practice that others could aspire to, Salih declined to do so, saying that none sprang immediately to mind, but added that there might be some virtue in researching which parties at least met some of his benchmarks for democratic best practice.
The issues of political party funding and women's representation in parties provoked lively debate at the conference. Speaking from the podium, professor Tandeka Nkiwane challenged African governments to live up to the many protocols and declarations they have signed on the subject of improving women's representation in politics, arguing that a 'critical mass' of women in parliament could change the political culture. Responding to a comment from a Nigerian delegate that it did not much matter how many women were in parliament, Nkiwane said bluntly that he was wrong, and that it mattered a great deal.
International IDEA’s book claims political financing is under-regulated in Africa, and states that fewer than one in five of the countries it studied had comprehensive legislation on the subject. According to the book, the most desirable form of funding from a democratic point of view would be party membership dues, followed by levies on the salaries of party members occupying state positions, and public funding. Least desirable, the book says, are donations by interest groups, lobbyists and corporate bodies, though this kind of funding contributes the lion's share in nearly every part of the world. Discussing the issue at the conference, few delegates seemed to think party membership dues were worth even mentioning, while most appeared to agree that some form of state contribution was desirable. There was, however, no consensus on how much, when it should be given, and according to which criteria.
Speaking from the podium early in the discussion on political parties, Dr Khabele Matlosa had argued they were an indispensable part of democracy on the continent.
Gregory Mthembu-Salter is an independent writer on African political economy based in Cape Town, South Africa
The views expressed here are the author’s own, and do not necessarily represent the views of International IDEA, its Board or its Council members.
