By Amin Kef Sesay
It is very certain that the management of political party affairs sometimes involve disputes among members.
Most importantly, given the series of brouhaha that have attended the ruling SLPP’s lower level elections, most notably the one in Kailahun last Saturday, going forward; it looks like it is high time the party leadership convenes regional workshops on internal dispute resolution aimed at promoting peaceful dialogue among members; as well as to enhance the skills of political actors for conflict management.
Such forums will provide the youth and women leaders with an important opportunity to share their experiences and provide an avenue to draw lessons on how dispute resolution can be enhanced.
From what we saw in Kailahun, internal political party dispute issues range from nomination, membership, leadership, and dissolution, among many others.
If such disputes are not resolved speedily and amicably, the results may be far reaching for both the party and the nation.
For the party, disputes may result in formation of camps within the party, decamping of members to other parties, the weakening of the party and in some cases, the actual demise of the party in question.
Whereas in a democratic environment political debate and conflicts can be anticipated, they must be managed within a framework that prevents conflicts from escalating.
Within political parties, the internal party rules system must not only foster intra-party debate but also regulate the mitigation and resolution of disputes arising from political party activities. Outside of the internal party rules system, there must be a mechanism of a judicial nature for adjudicating disputes arising from political parties’ activities in a manner that promotes democracy, justice and rule of law.
Considering this background, a Political Parties Disputes Tribunal must be an established as an institution that is mandated with fair, just and expeditious resolution of disputes.
This will enhance the internal capacity of political parties to resolve disputes in a matter that promotes intra-party dialogue.
From what we saw in Kailahun, amongst others, these issues cause dispute:
– Nominations
– Membership
– Godfather syndrome
– The conduct of leaders
– Tyranny of the leadership in imposing on members what is not fair and acceptable
Proposals for effective intra-political party dispute resolution:
– Adherence to the party Constitution
– Installation of an independent internal disciplinary committee
– Having an (external) independent body to solve a dispute
– Having guidelines and principles to guide the dispute resolution process
– Discouraging nepotism and impunity within political parties
– Constitutional amendment to have an internal dispute tribunal
– Having well defined rules and regulations for handling coalition disputes
– An independent body to solve coalition disputes
– Opening the proceedings to the members of both parties to the dispute
