Democracy and the Rule of Law are the two main pillars of a sovereign state. And without democracy and the rule of law, the state is anarchy, nasty and brutish.
For a country to be seen as democratic there should be high esteem for the rule of law regardless of one’s status in the society because according to Professor A.V Dicey “it is the law and not man that is supreme”. Likewise for a state to be seen as democratic there should be an open space for citizens to express their views, freedom of association coupled with a transparent and accountable government. The right to life, freedom and liberty are inalienable rights of every citizens in a state thus there are limitations to those rights. But the state should not compelled or be apprehensive against any citizen or citizens that are not in favor of government’s decision or supporting other political party rather than the ruling party.
Democracy is believed to be the government of the people, by the people and for the people, which means in a democratic state, the people agree to disagree. And in a truly democratic dispensation, freedom of expression and association are indispensable tools.
Nevertheless, there has been blatant disregard for democracy and rule of law ahead of the June 24th polls by both the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples’ Party (SLPP) and the main opposition All Peoples’ Congress party (APC) based on freedom of association and expression. The notion that a Southeasterner should belong to or be a supporter of the SLPP and one from the Northwest to be perceived as a member or supporter of the APC is a stereotype political thinking that has helped to damage the fabrics of good governance in Sierra Leone.
Any person born in this country is a Sierra Leonean citizen and is neither a citizen of SLPP nor APC. Nationalism and political allegiance should not be misconstrued looking at it from a gloomy picture. For instance being loyal to a political party does not make one a nationalist to the state and vice versa. For democracy and rule of law to thrive in any political space, the citizens should put the country’s interest above all else regardless of which political party one is supporting.
Democracy thrives where there is equal representation of the people and that is to say no region or ethnicity is seeing themselves more superior than the other or thinking that they are more powerful than the other region because their party and president is in power.
Governments in and out should comply with and have respect for the rule of law which is the hallmark of democracy. The rule of law should not be seen as a tool to depress the opposition but must be seen and used as a tool to strengthen democracy and consolidate peace in a fair, transparent and democratic dispensation.
The rule of law and democracy cannot be sidelined or prefer one to the other but must work in harness and cohesively for a level playing ground for all Sierra Leoneans irrespective of one’s social, marital, political, ethnic and bureaucratic background. We must all strive for democracy and rule of law to thrive.