[Courrier International, France]
La Prensa, Nigaragua
In Nicaragua and Around
the World, ‘Admiration’
for U.S. Primary System
"In every way and despite of the defects that the system
has, the U.S. primaries are far superior to the political procedures that exist
in many Latin-American countries."
EDITORIAL
Translated by Miguel Guttierez
February 9, 2008
Nicaragua
- La Prensa - Original Article (Spanish)
The U.S. primary
elections to choose Democratic and Republican Party candidates to contest the
presidential election next November 4 show the strength and credibility of
North American democracy and have resulted in admiration around the world. In
fact, independently of which candidates the two parties select, these primaries
demonstrate the greatness of a genuinely democratic political system, unafraid
of free opinion or the will of the citizenry, and one that promotes debate by
all possible means.
According to
experts on the United States political system, the primaries of the two
political parties do not follow the same pattern. On the contrary, each party
establishes its own procedures and rules, but in any event, the process is
based on the confidence of the politicians and citizens, voters and candidates.
So with very rare exceptions, the results of the primaries aren't challenged by
candidates and their supporters who end up losing.
The United States
primaries are carried out through two basic processes. One is the direct
vote of every citizen affiliated with the party or sympathetic to it, and takes
place in local facilities specially authorized for that purpose. The other is
the so-called "caucus," a word of native origin [may be an Algonquin
Indian word for counsel 
] which once
referred to meetings in which tribal leaders took decisions important to and
binding on the tribe. Today, the "caucus" is comprised of registered
voters from each party who meet in private homes, churches, schools and any
other appropriate place; and while they eat sandwiches and drink coffee, tea
and other refreshments, they engage in intense political discussions before
voting on their candidate of choice.
Of course the
primary elections in the United States - both direct and by "caucus"
- have flaws and imperfections. Moreover, the primaries elicit such intense
emotion that they sometimes polarize the citizenry and even result in a state
of enmity. Nevertheless, this doesn't usually occur with the candidates, since
their status as professional politicians obligates them to behave
calmly and demonstrate tolerance and nobility, as much during the intense struggle
to attract and convince voters as after the victory or defeat, as the case may
be. WORLDMEETS.US
In every way and
despite of the defects that the system has, the U.S. primaries are far superior
to the political procedures that exist in many Latin-American countries, where
lobbies for the political parties, or worse still, in some cases the leadership
or corporate bosses name their associates and supporters. In these countries
the selection of candidates is done generally through "el dedazo" [the 'big fingermark,'
the tradition of allowing the incumbent president to appoint the party's
nominee] and in the best of cases by Congresses, conventions or assemblies for
which the results are fixed beforehand, or by a "consensus" between
leaders of the parties and alliances.
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Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, left, with his
close friend and colleague, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. The old Sandanista warhorse and Reagan nemisis
is feeling some heat from the press.
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It is fitting to
note that in Nicaragua, the FSLN [ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front]
was the first party to include in its charter the procedure for holding primaries
or popular consultations to choose its candidates. The party did so after it
lost the 1990 elections and power passed to the opposition. But as soon as the
leadership and candidacies of Daniel Ortega and the local FSLN overlords were
challenged by credible alternative candidates that had emerged from the
Sandinista base, the primaries and popular consultations were suppressed and
the challengers to the party leadership were demoted or expelled. WORLDMEETS.US
Now in the
liberal ALN [Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance ] and PLC [Consitutional Liberal Party ], some have
demanded the holding of primary elections to select mayoral and deputy mayoral
candidates. Nevertheless, there are objections to the right to hold primaries, based
on the pretexts that there isn’t enough time to hold primaries; that it's
preferable to choose candidates by "consensus" within the parties;
that Nicaraguans lack the political maturity to hold primaries; and that the
nation's poverty makes it impossible to finance primaries.
But democracy is
learned though its exercise, and sooner or later one must begin to practice it.
If the desire for democratic politics exists, the possibility and desire to hold
primaries also exists and will continue to exist.
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VERSION
[WORLDMEETS.US Posted February 18, 8:45pm]
