Hold politicians accountable for election promises

By The Editorial Board 18 January 2024, 10:00AM

There is a need for changes in the Electoral Act, changes that would hold politicians accountable for promises that are made during election campaigns. A hefty fine or a penalty that makes the incumbent ineligible to be a candidate would be welcomed by the public.

All election promises must be recorded and if undelivered by the end of one term, then a politician needs to be referred to a disciplinary committee, there is no two way about it, otherwise every election year, promises of a new wharf, new bridges, better roads, more teachers and doctors will be made but nothing would happen.

The mayor of Apolima, Leala Afe Solo has no reason to lie about what was promised to the islanders before the election in 2021. The island needs a wharf, a safe place where boats can berth and people can safely get on and off.

The wharf was damaged and now it lies in tatters, which is also a threat to the safety of the people. They are having to swim up to the boat to board it. Imagine, a medical emergency on the island and there is a need to transport the patient to Upolu.

The mayor said they would now consider voting for someone else in the next election because the promises made by their current representative were something that made them vote for him.

Political parties should look at the promises their candidates want to make to the voters and before they make them, vet them and only allow those promises that can be fulfilled. Otherwise making promises and not fulfilling them is the same as deception.

It is also the same as gaining an advantage through deception which in some countries is a crime. Section 172 of the Crimes Act does have something similar but its application to election promises has not been tested yet. Maybe it should be.

Politicians knowingly making promises during election campaigns that are pie-in-the-sky, should be investigated by authorities for undermining voters’ ability to make informed choices.

Knowingly making false, unachievable, and illegal campaign promises amounts to a political lie, and breaches ethics and honesty.

It is intended to deliberately deceive voters – many of whom are desperate, illiterate and do not know better. It now appears that even political campaign speeches have been “captured”.

Outrageously false campaign promises undermine the credibility, legitimacy, and trust in the country’s electoral system – and also in politics broadly.

Increasingly ahead of elections political leaders and parties are making false, unrealistic, and unattainable promises to get the votes. Making false and unrealistic promises are unethical, immoral, and irresponsible.

It shows a shocking disregard for the truth. Leaders and parties show their disrespect for poor, desperate, and illiterate voters by promising them things that are patently undeliverable. Making such promises is not in the best interests of the constituencies they purport to serve, neither is it in the best interests of the country.

False promises also undermine the credibility of information given to voters to base their voting decisions on. False campaign information, particularly in a society such as Samoa with high levels of illiteracy about governance, with citizens who often do not have access to credible information, undermines the credibility of truthful, fact-based and evidence-based information, as unknowing ordinary citizens believe the false information they receive from cynical politicians and political parties.

Voters cannot make informed voting decisions based on false election campaign promises. False campaign promises undermine the sacred power of the vote itself.

It also undermines open public debate over policy choices to be decided because campaign promises are based on untruths.

It also shows the hunger for power for its own sake that many political leaders and parties would say anything to be elected to be part of the gravy train of high salaries, perks, and access to patronage.

Of course, it is very difficult for ordinary citizens to seek legal recourse to hold politicians to account who make wild promises – beyond not voting for such leaders and parties. However, there has to be a way to hold politicians and parties accountable for making false campaign promises.

In 1964, the US Supreme Court pronounced that deliberate false speech by politicians would not enjoy constitutional protection in the US. The US Supreme Court said: “For the use of the known lie as a tool is at once at odds with the premises of democratic government and with the orderly manner in which economic, social, or political change is to be effected. Calculated falsehood falls into that class of utterances which ‘are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from them is outweighed by the social interest in order and morality ....’ Hence the knowingly false statement and the false statement made with reckless disregard of the truth, do not enjoy constitutional protection”.

Let’s do this in Samoa too. Politicians who make false promises must be held accountable or give up their posts because those votes have been garnered through false promises and lies.

By The Editorial Board 18 January 2024, 10:00AM
Samoa Observer

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