Unconstitutional Populism: a Peril to Democracy in Sub- Saharan Africa?
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UNCONSTITUTIONAL POPULISM: A PERIL TO DEMOCRACY IN SUB- SAHARAN AFRICA? By Dr. Joël Moudio Motto AUGUST 2021 Article / ©Nkafu Policy Institute he end of the Arab Spring has barely Therefore, in this circumstance, we seek to been digested, with Sub-Saharan underscore the drivers of unconstitutional TAfrica starting to embark on the same populism and to what extent it remains a threat lane. The Malian news of August 2020 saw the to democratic transition. ousting of Ibrahim Boubakar Keita following a popular mobilization led by the Imam of the Bamako Mosque. In 2014 in Burkina Faso, the The Crisis of Democratic popular movement under the banner of the Political Legitimacy: Balai-citoyen deposed Blaise Comparoé. Both of these constitutive cases of populism indicate A Condition for the a rejection of representative democracy and, Emergence of Populism therefore, of the ‘will’ of the people to govern directly without institutional mediation. Still, The populist phenomenon in SSA that led to the they also express the crisis of the welfare state, ousting of the heads of state operates around that is, the inability of those in power to deliver. an essential register: popular movements. The condition for the emergence of popular In populist rhetoric, history and political movements is based on the emergence of a crisis issues are reduced to an aggressive opposition of political legitimacy affecting the system of between a majority people – homogeneous representation (Taguieff, 1997) which dominates and hard-working – and an elite – minority representative democracy. Otherwise, the and heterogeneous, democratically elected populist dynamics carried by civil society and appointed by governments. These elite, in organizations are deployed in contestation to populist rhetoric, are seen as an enemy of the the democratically elected political elite that people. Thus, the emergence of populist dynamics struggles to represent the will of the people. in Mali since June 2020 – with the eruption of the heterogeneous opposition coalition of Civil society organizations alongside trade the Movement of June 5 – Rally of Patriotic unions and opposition parties in Burkina Faso Forces of Mali (M5-RFP) – and in Burkina Faso played an important role in Blaise Compaoré. with the civil society organizations around the In particular, it is around these organizations, Balai Citoyen in 2014, which contributed to the particularly the Balai citoyen launched in 2013 overthrow of democratically elected Heads of by artists Smockey and Sams K le Jah, that State, is, in fact, anti-constitutional populism. the most audible protest against the proposed [email protected] - www.nkafu.org 1 UNCONSTITUTIONAL POPULISM: A PERIL TO DEMOCRACY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA? constitutional change was structured. It was at 29, 2020, called for a public demonstration the call of the leader of the political opposition violently repressed by 1,000 security men. But Zéphirin Diabré, and the main CSOs that the entry on the scene of the Imam of Bamako, hundreds of thousands of people gathered Mahmoud Dicko, on June 5, 2020, had a in Ouagadougou on October 28, 2014, which significant impact, especially since the social constituted the largest march the country has capital – social support – that he mobilized seen since the one on January 3, 1966, which united all Malian actors around the Muslim precipitated the fall of Upper Volta’s first religion - for a country made up of 90% Muslims. president, Maurice Yaméogo. It was also after a In April 2019, he organized demonstrations call from the Balai citoyen, joined by the Front that led to the dismissal of Soumeylou Boubeye progressiste sankariste, that demonstrators Maïga, then Prime Minister. Unlike in Burkina, “stormed” – in the words of the call issued by where confrontation spaces have multiplied in each of these two organizations two days earlier the various neighborhoods of the different cities – the National Assembly on October 30, 2014, of Burkina Faso, the Malian capital has been the day of the review of the bill that was to allow the epicenter of popular protest. The objective Blaise Compaoré to stand for re-election before of the Malian mobilizations was to ensure he announced his intention to postpone the the resignation of IBK. The crisis of political bill and then resigned. The protests in Burkina legitimacy from which the anti-constitutional Faso have a revolutionary history that is said to populism stems is rooted in the crisis of African be structured around the memory of Thomas States - that is, its inability to provide lasting and Sankara, a captain who came to power by force effective security for its people. One dimension in 1983 and was placed at the head of a regime of the crisis of Sub-Saharan African states is the proclaiming revolutionary ideals. crisis of the welfare state. In Mali, the popular mobilizations were much better structured than in Burkina Faso because The Crisis of the Welfare they were built around an organized and State as a Cause of composite framework of action carried by an institutional figure and a synergy of leaders; Unconstitutional Populism this was the opposition coalition. Civil society The welfare state crisis (Rosanvillon, 1981) organizations joined the coalition, not without is characteristic of the borders that separate integrating its organized framework, but to the state and society. These boundaries are overthrow the regime in place, motivating all socio-economic and are posed in terms of their public demonstrations. The days leading to the breakdown of public governance. In both the fall of Ibrahim Boubakar Keita on August 18, the Burkinabe and Malian cases, protesters 2020, constituted a moment in which the motley castigated the promotion of corruption, opposition coalition of the June 5 Movement- cronyism, weak public services, and the Gathering of Patriotic Forces of Mali (M5-RFP) government’s inability to stop inter-community sowed the seeds of a popular takeover. The and jihadist violence – in Mali – fueled political capital – the political supporters of the popular frustration. In Mali and Burkina Faso, coalition were not, however, able to push IBK to political underdevelopment (Badie, 1992) is resign since these public demonstrations of the the expression of institutional malfunctioning opposition parties were not new. In June 2018, (Médard, 1977), which is, therefore, a symptom of the “soft state” (Myrdal, 1969), the most salient the union of opposition leaders consisting of features of which are to be found in the decay Soumaïla Cissé, Mohamed Aly Bathily, Aliou of governance, which can be measured in terms Boubacar Diallo, and Habib Dembélé, all of the effectiveness of the state in implementing candidates for the presidential election of July public policies and the level of corruption. [email protected] - www.nkafu.org 2 UNCONSTITUTIONAL POPULISM: A PERIL TO DEMOCRACY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA? Figure 1: Level of corruption in Mali and Burkina Faso (1995-2020) Figure 2: Level of government effectiveness in Mali and Burkina Faso (2005-2020) Until 2014 in Burkina Faso and from 2012 reinforced the gap between the state and society in Mali, periods that mark, respectively, the and generated popular movements that have led power of Comparoé and IBK, it can be seen to the ousting of governments. Can it, therefore, that governments of these countries were be said from the above that anti-constitutional struggling to respond effectively to the needs of populism is a danger to democratic transition? society; with a remarkable drop in Mali in 2020 [measurable on a scale of 10] (Fig. 2). It can be seen in similar periods that corruption has Is Unconstitutional plagued the functioning of government since independence, although from 2005 onwards a Populism a Resource for reduction in the level of corruption below 50 - Democratic Changeover? measurable on a scale of 100 - can be observed and has tended to stabilize since then, despite Anti-constitutional populism has imposed the fall in the index observed in Mali in 2020 itself in Mali – in August 2020 with the popular (Fig. 1). These states, despite the existence of movements led by the figure of the imam of the public administration, are far from providing great mosque of Bamako, Mahmoud Dicko – and an efficient public service. This, over time, has in Burkina Faso – 2014 with the Balai citoyen – [email protected] - www.nkafu.org 3 UNCONSTITUTIONAL POPULISM: A PERIL TO DEMOCRACY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA? as a modality of democratic transition. However, Rosanvallon, P. (1981). Etat-providence et société these popular movements do not have the solidaire. Esprit (1940-), (55/56 (7/8), 57-75. political-military – resources and are relatively Taguieff, P. A. (1997). Le populisme et la science structured – due to their spontaneity – to impose politique. Du mirage conceptuel aux vrais themselves as a real modality for democratic problèmes. Vingtieme siecle. Revue d'histoire, transition. Most of these movements disappear 4-33. after their objective is reached and are substituted by military juntas. References Badie, B., & Smouts, M. C. (1992). Le retournement du monde: sociologie de la scène internationale. Dr. Joël Moudio Motto, Paris: Presses de la Fondation nationale des Analyst in governance and regional integration at the Nkafu Policy sciences politiques. Institute Denis & Lenora Foretia Médard, J. F. (1977). L’État sous-développé au Foundation Cameroun. Année africaine, 1979, 35-84. Layout by Epoh Severin [email protected] - www.nkafu.org 4.