Come January 20, 2025, exactly one month from today, a new president of the United States of America, USA, will be inaugurated and sworn in at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. In the November 5, 2024 election, Donald Trump had won the election with 312 electoral votes and 49.9 per cent of popular vote, while his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, picked up 226 electoral votes and 48.3 per cent of the popular vote.
Vice President Kamala Harris, in her brief speech congratulating Trump and conceding defeat, said a fundamental principle of America’s democracy is that “when we lose an election, we accept the results.”
Harris said the nation does not owe loyalty to a president or party, but to the Constitution, “our conscience and to our God.” She pledged to continue fighting for democracy, the rule of law and equal justice.
Harris conceded and congratulated her opponent because she knew that the election was free and fair; that every vote of the electorate counted; that Trump didn’t bribe the electoral body to alter the real result of the election.
Harris knew that Trump did not bribe the security agents and agencies to look the other way while his political thugs unleashed violence against Harris’ supporters. She knew that Trump did not influence the Judiciary for the purpose of turning justice upside down in the event that Harris felt cheated and went to court to seek redress.
If any of those malfeasances had taken place during the election, Harris wouldn’t have had the obligation to concede defeat to Trump and congratulate him. So, for democracy to work anywhere, all the mechanisms for free and fair election must be put in place.
Without free and fair election, the cheated candidate or political party and their supporters will either resort to violence or apathetically refuse to further participate in the electoral process, and instead explore other means of dislodging the rigging political party from power. Military intervention could be one of those options.
Having enjoyed the benefits of free and fair elections for many years, the US and other democracies should desist from recognising and supporting governments in foreign countries which rigged their ways into power. Many Nigerians have accused the Democrats, not only of supporting governments that rigged elections in Nigeria but also of assisting those governments — all for the national interests of the United States.
Moreover, the citizens of countries involved in electoral fraud must learn to “fight” against it. In her concession speech, Harris was quoted to have used the word “fight” 19 times!
It is imperative, therefore, that citizens of decadent and fraudulent systems should learn to “fight” for the entrenchment of free and fair election in their countries. If the people of United States, as advanced as their democracy is, are still in the trenches fighting, Nigeria and other African countries, where elections are blatantly rigged, should have more reasons to fight.
Vanguard
