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hold (and some have already done that) elections. This will touch every continent. Both big and small nations will put their democratic systems to the test by holding elections.
According to a number of sources including the Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa and the National Democratic Institute the following African countries will hold elections of some sort this year, while some have already gone to the polls — Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Togo, Zimbabwe.
This means that close to half of the countries on the African continent will be going to the polls, and this also means a lot for the continent’s billion citizens. Will they empower themselves with these ballots? Will their vote improve their status? Will the challenges that bedevil Africa’s elections be a thing of the past?
Zimbabweans are aware that they will go to the polls some time this year. This would be a two-stage event, which will see the nation voting in a referendum to accept or deny the draft constitution that is currently being written.
Irrespective of the outcome of the referendum, there are strong indications that if the draft is rejected, then we will revert to the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979.
Fareed Zakaria remarks on the geo-political importance of “a year filled with government changes”: “Fifty-nine countries will be tallying up votes, local, state or national. There are 193 countries in the world, so that’s about a third of the world’s nations. 26 of these may see a change in national leadership. Together these changes could affect 53 percent of the world’s population representing half of the world’s GDP. And a lot of the change is concentrated in the world’s most powerful countries.”
He adds, “Four of the five UN Security Council members could see changes at the top. That’s Russia, China, France, and of course the United States. These four countries alone represent 40 percent of the world’s GDP.” Russia is among the first, with presidential polls taking place at the weekend.
Zakaria says China will also see “the biggest wholesale change at the top. Seventy percent of the country’s leadership will be new.”
Other states include Venezuela, Hong Kong, India (the world’s largest democracy), Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), South Korea, Republic of China (Taiwan), Finland, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine, United Kingdom (local elections), Iran, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Finland, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, etc.
With governance and economic issues taking centre stage, 2012 is not only challenging, but we wait to see what the outcome will be for a year that has been described as a year representing “personnel changes vs. fundamental debates”.
From Egypt in January to the United States in November, all politicians face an uphill struggle (battle for election or re-election) because high unemployment and sluggish economies have created more unemployment and few super rich individuals who are enjoying the majority of the national cakes, the 99 percent versus the 1 percent.
The social media, more than ever will play a pivotal role in mapping electoral and national agendas and the way forward.
Zimbabwean political parties and hopeful politicians have to be aware of this truth, which has become the latest kingmaker, considering that the young and voting population literally lives on cyberspace.
Despite the fact that they too will be holding their own polls, they still express that strong desire to monitor and evaluate other nation states’ elections according to the democratic benchmarks they have set, which are in sync with their economic interests. That’s the EU, the United States and their allies. It is a game of them versus us!
The elections held so far are indicative of how bumpy the political landscape is — like a game held where rules are non-existent and where nothing is certain, but anything is possible.
The United States voters roll with its many faulty lines according to a recent Pew Centre report is a case in point. Among other anomalies, it was found with 1,8 million dead registered voters, nine months before the November vote. But, they still want to dictate free and fair elections in other parts of the world.
The 2000 Florida fiasco was also a learning curve for many countries who never thought that in the land of the free, an election result would not only be delayed, but that it could  actually be stolen.
So, there is nothing new under the sun. We have to learn from each mistake and challenge we come across. And, fighting is not one of the ways we learn from our mistakes. As millions continue to go to the polls this year, the fundamental goal is that they exercise a fundamental right that would result in better lives, peace and security.
As José Martí said, “The vote is a trust more delicate than any other, for it involves not just the interests of the voter, but his life, honour and future as well.”