Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, asserted that liberal democracy cannot exist in Africa.
This was said by Obasanjo in a conversation with The Cable.
The former head of the country said that the liberal democracy that Africa had copied from the West could no longer serve the continent when asked what he thought was causing the rise in coups throughout the continent.
He emphasized that it was time for decision-makers to convene and develop a new framework.
Three of the six countries that have undergone coups, according to Obasanjo, have done so as a direct result of elections.
“I was the one who in 1999 advocated that if you are not a government backed by the constitution, you should be suspended from the African Union, and these chaps don’t even mind any suspension.
“So we have a situation where we have a continent where we have to rethink democracy. The liberal democracy we are copying from settled societies in the West won’t work for us,” he added.
When asked what type of democracy would work, he replied, “I don’t know. But we have seen that the liberal type of democracy as practised in the West will not work for us. We have to put our heads together.
“You have to put your heads together to fashion it out. You can give it any name. But we have seen that this is not working. Out of the six countries that have experienced coups, three of them are directly from elections. Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, and Gabon that we have just had are directly from elections. The other three are indirect, if you like.”
