THRESHOLD LAW ON REFERENDUM IS A MOCKERY TO DEMOCRACY.

In championing for John Brown`s cause, Henry David Thoreau asserted that “….office seekers and speechmakers do not so much as lay an honest egg but wear their breasts bare upon an egg of chalk! Their great game is the game of straws...” The contemporariness of Thoreau`s words in today`s Kenya cannot be gainsaid. We are all witnesses to the dazzling political legerdemain. Take for instance those opponents of the proposed constitution who have incessantly albeit unsuccessfully engaged in 'turning the constitutional clock back' subterfuge. It is more of a guffaw than a laugh that is emitted by the conscientious Kenyans as they laugh at their antics.

Their latest move is to force the government to adhere to the international threshold not because it is absolutely necessary but simply as a ploy to ensure that they (opponents) of the proposed constitution flaunt the fundamental tenet of democracy - that the majority rules. They are desperately attempting to ensure the absolute power of the phony majority. If they can see nothing wrong in this requirement then their sensibilities are not delicate enough to recognize that democracy is the rule of the majority.

It is phony reasoning because in 2005, Kenya held a referendum, then there was no reference to the now much hyped international threshold. We generally agreed that the rule of the majority applies. But today, sensing defeat, some opponents of the proposed constitution find it convenient to harp on the threshold requirement as if voting is a mandatory exercise!

I object to this requirement because the rule of the super majority is a threat to democracy. Take the case of the 2005 Ontario referendum where 57% of eligible British Colombians voted for change yet, because of a 60% threshold, the 43% minority ruled the day. Voters across British Columbia voiced their extreme outrage over this double standard.

To the majority of Ontarians this was indeed a very sad day. It is this case that makes me opine that the recommendation of a 40% supermajority threshold for the upcoming referendum only serves to show a blatant disrespect for the very process of constitutionalism that we ourselves have strived to set up for many decades. This requirement undermines the excellent and dedicated work of the Kenyan citizenry.
We have to vigorously strive to oppose this undemocratic supermajority threshold. I believe that the International threshold of 40 percent for Kenya`s constitutional referendum is undemocratic and could provoke instability in this great country of ours. This law harms the basic democratic principle because the decision to enact a constitution belongs to the majority and not the minority. This requirement contains a virus which is dangerous to the stability of society when it comes to the implementation of the results.

Those who are of the opinion that this is a draconian requirement are not alone. The Montenegrins are very prudent. Their law on referendums states that the decision is to be taken by a majority of citizens eligible to vote. However, it does not fix any exact figure. To them, a simple majority suffices to make a referendum decision valid.

From the foregoing, democracy must not only be seen to be working but it must actually work. We must remember that we are but the atoms in the incessant human struggle towards the light that shines in the darkness—the ideal of economic, political and spiritual liberation of mankind.

TOME FRANCIS,
BUMULA.
http://twitter.com/tomefrancis