Intra and Inter Political Parties’ Democracy: The Upholding of Democracy Pillars within Political Parties

The Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) through its Lesotho Democracy Project (LDP) held a two-day workshop at ‘Manthabiseng Convention centre. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss pillars that underpin a functional democracy in Lesotho. Special focus was on deepening democracy within political parties, with a closer look at the endemic conflicts that emanate from personality vendettas between members of political parties. The workshop interrogated if there are conflict resolution mechanisms that political parties use to resolve unending conflicts.

The theme of the workshop was: “Intra and Inter Political Parties’ Democracy: The Upholding of Democracy Pillars within Political Parties”. The workshop conscientised political party delegates who participated in deliberations, debates and discussions on modalities that should be applied to bring stability in political parties, in spite of differences of opinion and acknowledgement of the divergence of views among members which is a conduit of democracy. The workshop also enlightened participants on various ways of democratizing their political structures by upholding pillars that underpin intra-party democracy.

It also focused on the importance of public participation in parliamentary issues, the role of Members of Parliament (MPs) both in their constituencies and in Parliament. It further looked at terms of office for political party leaders and a leadership succession plan within parties.

TRC had invited quest speakers from a variety of sources. A representative of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), Tim Hughes addressed the workshop on intra-and-inter-party democracy. His presentation focused on the principles of a multi-party democracy which embraces tenets such as constitutionalism, rule-based behavior, legitimacy and tolerance. Freedom of speech also formed a greater part of his presentation. Mr Hughes also emphasized pluralism and checks and balances as cardinal tenets that underpin a functional democracy. He touched on challenges that face political parties in addressing conflicts, the environment of political parties as well as the role that they play in nurturing democracy.

A member of the TRC board, Mr Nchafatso Sello made a presentation on internal functioning and structure of political parties; featuring party funding as a challenge, leadership election, policy development as well as membership recruitment. He also touched on information gathering and dissemination within parties, gender equality, external relations and inter-party relations. Mr Sello hinted on the formation of the Interim Political Authority (IPA), a body that was formed with intention to level the ground for a fresh election, post the controversial 1998 elections.

The workshop was also graced with the presence of Mr Sam Masiziwe, a Member of Parliament representing the Eastern Cape Provincial Government from the African National Congress (ANC). Mr Masiziwe shed experiences on how conflict resolution is handled in the ANC as a ruling party in South Africa, challenges facing the party and also modalities that the party uses to address intra-party conflicts. He enlightened the workshop on relationships between the ruling party and government and challenges that are posed by separation of powers between the ruling party and government. He focused on the challenges of building party structures and membership recruitment in many political parties. He also touched on the formation of strategic political party alliances that he said were formed by parties, both with majority or minority representation in legislative houses.

The workshop closed with recommendations that served as forward for the future that would be a benchmark on the lessons learned from the workshop.

LDP is a joint initiative between TRC and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). It is funded by the Royal Danish Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.

TRC is an ecumenical resource centre for justice, peace, democracy, human rights and participatory development. It was established in 1979.

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