As democracy goes on trial in United States

Ordinarily, in its primary election parlance, today ought to be a Super Tuesday for the United States of America. But it is not. Today is rather the ‘D’ day in the land of democracy. The world’s supper power goes to the polls to elect the next most powerful man or woman to pilot the affairs of that great country. The ritual of periodic elections is what marks out the US as the bastion of stable democracy in the world. It is a ceremony they usual await every four years and take more than a year getting ready for.

Today means a lot to the survival of democracy in the land, because for the first time in its rich democratic history, the US is faced with the challenge of having two left legs to choose from.

Never before has the country faced such oddity of having two unpopular candidates standing on its two major political parties for the post of president. Never before also has the country had a woman contesting the presidency on one of those two prominent platforms.

In the light of the foregoing, it would be quiet appropriate to state that the US democracy goes on trial today. Faced with the grim choice of deciding who between the two frontline candidates with defective reputation, should occupy the White House for the next four years, there is no doubt that Americans of voting age would be tempted to reject or reset democracy.

Were it not for its rich history and reputation as the model of democracy, the appearance of former Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton and billionaire estate mogul, Donald J. Trump, on the tickets of the Democratic and Republican Parties, is enough for the voters to wish that their country was like a third world country, where the leader could whimsically postpone or annul the election with the excuse that “money bags have hijacked the system.”

But America is not Africa or any banana republic. It is a challenge it must face and a choice it must make. However, the consequences of its choice would live with or torment them for the next four years. Although there are provisions for impeachment, history has shown that such ouster process is not one that can come easy or expeditiously. And that realization may be part of the compelling reasons the outgoing President Barack Obama, has been stumping and surrogating for his party’s candidate and former aide, Clinton, urging Americans to come out and vote.

The alternative choices on the ballot, as various opinion polls in the US have indicated, are not such that inspire enthusiasm to vote. And this presents a source of grave worry to lovers of democracy all over the world. As such, despite being the cynosure of democratic process, it seems the US has some big lessons to learn from the recent experiences of Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

When the UK debated the pros and cons of staying or leaving the European Union (EU), much passion and enthusiasm were injected into the debates and discussions. Public intellectuals were predominant on the stay proposition, while the ordinary citizens gave momentum to BREXIT. To cap up matters, opinion surveys by polling firms returned a verdict of stay.

However, when the referendum held, the public intellectuals and elite got a shock of their lives. The effect of the massive exit vote dawned on them, such that there were strident calls for a repeat vote, which as the laws of the land stipulated, was like a restoring a bullet after the shot has gone off. The backlash of BREXIT is still trending in UK, leading to the recent judicial pronouncement that the parliament should have the last word on the matter. Democracy in the UK is a different of kettle of fish, because, not only does it not have a written constitution, it has a parliament that can turn a woman into a man. In America, it is not so.

Now, coming to Nigeria, which Donald Trump cited as an example of democratic lows, the US can reflect on the country’s electoral process, particularly the 2015 election. Nigeria is a unique democracy where uneducated persons, including the many that can neither read or write or understand the issues; join in the recruitment of governors and president, whose lowest academic qualification is a school certificate.

Not that alone, the country has been well advertised as a corrupt country where things are done to benefit self rather than country. Nigeria gained global attention and Trump’s respect for its ability to cheat in elections. For, even when the constitution and Electoral Act recommended that only persons that have attained the age of 18 could vote, that requirement could be dispensed with without consequences.

It is this Nigerian democratic malaise that Trump, who had been saying and doing outrageous things through the campaigns, has indicated by alleging that the system in America has been rigged. And subsumed in that alarm by Trump, is the subtle suggestion to his supporters to over reach the electoral laws.

The lessons for US citizens from the scenarios above are that they should go out to vote, because failing to do so would leave them wringing their hands if the wrong people, the low people; end up having the final say on who should succeed Barack Obama.

American voters should also guard their democratic ethos jealously, knowing that eternal vigilance holds the key to national progress. Should they abdicate this social demand, the outcome of the election may trigger some untoward developments that may lead to the nation’s decline and ultimate fall.

The Union of Soviet Social Republic (USSR) began its gradual fall when it let go of the various institutional pillars of force that held the disparate nation states together. The history of international politics and diplomacy has always placed Russia and US at polar axis. Russia may be waiting eagerly to see how the US could make a little slip away from its strong pillars of popular vote as the basis of its democracy.

The foregoing are some of the issues that make today’s presidential election in US very challenging. And the whole world is waiting to see how enlightened American voters are to choose between two staggering options.

Should the Republican candidate, Trump, carry the day, the implications for the world would be far-reaching. That would mean a return to individualism and goodbye to America as the capital of the world and the land of opportunities. Trump’s presidency could trigger much confusion in world politics and a possible return to cold war, this time between US/Russian and the rest of the world, owing to the fascination the Republican lone ranger had been showing for Vladmir Putin.

Furthermore, Trump’s triumph may escalate tensions in the Middle East, because moderate Arab nations may band together to confront the bigotry he espouses by seeking to isolate US businesses and citizens from their countries.

Next to that, the US economy would witness a jerk, leading possibly to massive job losses and foreclosures as mortgage and other fiscal instruments plummet owing to intended mass exodus of foreigners.

On the other hand, should Democratic Party’s Clinton win, her victory would usher in a new era in world politics. For the womenfolk, it would represent huge historical victory, as the US would be following the examples of UK and Germany in having a female at the head of its government.

But, one area the country would witness a boom is in the absence of policy disruptions, since the former Secretary of State appear willing to continue with most of the economic and domestic policies of the Obama administration.

Yet, as the nation retains its hold on economic prosperity, the Clinton presidency may trigger some nervous strains in the relationship between the white House and Capitol Hill. For one, apart from trying to make up for their bruising loss of three straight electoral battles in the hands of the Democratic Party, the Republicans may try to use their superior numbers in the Senate and possibly House of Representatives to filibuster executive bills and thereby frustrate her presidency.

In addition to that, the Republicans may sustain the tempo of calls for investigation into the Clinton Foundation and use of private emails. It does not look that a President Hilary Clinton would have it easy with her electoral victory, especially in the light of Trump’s veiled threat to challenge the election outcome in the court, as well as, refusal to concede.

No doubt the wide world would be waiting with bated breath as democracy goes on trial in America. There is a measure of optimism that Clinton’s emergence would be a lesser evil to the international community than Trump’s. Her victory would inspire the womenfolk all over the world much more than her speech at the Beijing conference did in 1995. But the challenge is more on Americans who have to vote.