In the end, it was too much to expect the man to do the right thing. He should have
graciously conceded defeat and congratulated the winner - it is a time honoured tradition for leaders around the world, but not him. Instead he announced he would not accept the result.
At 7 pm before even a single result was announced and counting was just beginning he tweeted that his party had won and he urged the other side not to attempt to hijack the results. It then became obvious to me that he was paving the way for his excuse if his party was defeated, namely that he was cheated and robbed at the ballot box.
Yes, the opposition won about 53% of the popular votes, against the government's 47%. However, this does not mean the opposition can rule the country. The fact is that the government had 133 seats against the opposition's 89. How is that possible? Well, a first-past-the-post (abbreviated FPTP or FPP) system is one that is won by the candidate with more votes than any other(s). It is a common feature of electoral systems. Let me illustrate very simply:
Area A has 5000 voters, 4000 voted for team A, 1000 for team B (Team A wins)
Area B has 8000 voters, 6000 voted for team A, 2000 for team B (Team A wins)
Area D has 12000 voters , 11500 voted for team B, 500 for team A (Team B wins)
Total number of voters for team A: 4000+6000+500 =10500 or 42% of the total
Total number of voters for team B: 1000+2000+11500=14,500 or 58% of the total
Well, in the example above, who will rule the country? Team A, because it has 2 seats, although it only took home only 42% of the seats.
If we think this is unfair we could redesign the electoral system and give more weightage to the criteria of population rather than the geographical coverage of an area. For the time being, until a change in policy is made, I guess we have to accept the decision, frustrated or not. My two cents worth is that we should all focus on reforming the system.
After 5 years of blogging, this is the first time I am making a posting with a political slant! I must avoid this in the future because the blogosphere is a place where I come to relax, not to get involved in "heavy" stuff. I guess I was somewhat carried away by the political atmosphere in the country at the moment. Guess I won't do this again!
graciously conceded defeat and congratulated the winner - it is a time honoured tradition for leaders around the world, but not him. Instead he announced he would not accept the result.
At 7 pm before even a single result was announced and counting was just beginning he tweeted that his party had won and he urged the other side not to attempt to hijack the results. It then became obvious to me that he was paving the way for his excuse if his party was defeated, namely that he was cheated and robbed at the ballot box.
Yes, the opposition won about 53% of the popular votes, against the government's 47%. However, this does not mean the opposition can rule the country. The fact is that the government had 133 seats against the opposition's 89. How is that possible? Well, a first-past-the-post (abbreviated FPTP or FPP) system is one that is won by the candidate with more votes than any other(s). It is a common feature of electoral systems. Let me illustrate very simply:
Area A has 5000 voters, 4000 voted for team A, 1000 for team B (Team A wins)
Area B has 8000 voters, 6000 voted for team A, 2000 for team B (Team A wins)
Area D has 12000 voters , 11500 voted for team B, 500 for team A (Team B wins)
Total number of voters for team A: 4000+6000+500 =10500 or 42% of the total
Total number of voters for team B: 1000+2000+11500=14,500 or 58% of the total
Well, in the example above, who will rule the country? Team A, because it has 2 seats, although it only took home only 42% of the seats.
If we think this is unfair we could redesign the electoral system and give more weightage to the criteria of population rather than the geographical coverage of an area. For the time being, until a change in policy is made, I guess we have to accept the decision, frustrated or not. My two cents worth is that we should all focus on reforming the system.
After 5 years of blogging, this is the first time I am making a posting with a political slant! I must avoid this in the future because the blogosphere is a place where I come to relax, not to get involved in "heavy" stuff. I guess I was somewhat carried away by the political atmosphere in the country at the moment. Guess I won't do this again!
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