The Campaign Trail

Chapter Nine

39 Chapter Nine fter one busy day, Jampassdie retired home for a rest. Thirsty as ever for information, he took the national daily and glanced through it for news. He was fed-up with the printed lines which monotonously carried only obituaries and tenders for contracts. These empty papers were, however, helpful in the sense that, when he was bored and felt like glancing through them, he was easily lulled to sleep. Just as his eyelids were closing, the four battery radio placed on the side stand of his bed pulled his attention back to a sensitive news item. This was preceded by the usual news jingle and the customary hymn saluting dictatorship. “One of our top stories tonight, presidential elections have been declared for this year. A detailed schedule will be made available in the months ahead. Meanwhile, the Head of State has signed a release authorizing six political parties to operate in our Republic. This is in keeping with his ideals of democracy.” Jampassdie jumped to his feet and pressed the radio set close to his ears. He really wanted the radio to answer the when, how, where, and why of the brief news item, but the closing jingle was already there playing. To satisfy his curiosity, he would have to wait for the praise singers to clarify the information, adding what the writer of the circular had forgotten. This government’s strategy, keeping the public in suspense over the details of the election and the list of authorized parties, was designed to take the opposition movement by surprise. After getting the reaction from the opponent movement, the government was to expand on the modalities of elections in the favour of the ruling party. A 40 Aware of this trap, Jampassdie decided to summon his party bigwigs to a think-tank meeting. During this meeting, he elaborated a campaign strategy. Being a party for the oppressed, it was agreed that he should be very vocal on Human Rights abuses, the widespread poverty, unemployment and general misery of the populace. Every campaign speech was to highlight these weaknesses of the government in power. Since this was the first presidential election organized since the advent of multi-party politics in Kutuma, the NLP was determined to take the bull by its horns. For twenty-four years, the president had cunningly refused to organise elections. When the meeting started, Jampassdie introduced its purpose, emphasizing the need for the opposition to be disciplined and sharply focused to confront the coming challenge. He called on his collaborators to come up with strategies to counteract any form of vote rigging. Before he could finish talking, Mr Ngam raised his finger and comrade Jampassdie offered him the floor. Mr Ngam was clearly anxious and had raised this finger at least three times while Jampassdie was speaking. Mr Ngam spoke: “Comrades, I know we have very eloquent people among us. We do not lack words. But we need to take important decisions now. We should decide on our candidate or candidates for the post of President. Let us try to open a new page of democracy instead of treading on the footsteps of the crumbling reign.” There was an excited reaction to that point. The most vocal and sentimental reaction was from comrade Natti: “We all know the man who ventured into the lion’s den at the launch. This man, who exposed his head to the butcher, should not be doubted as our lone candidate. Let us, therefore, not belabour the point. We have our God-given 41 leader, the brave comrade Jampassdie.” Quite confident and satisfied with the weight of the point, she took back her seat Another speaker jumped up and blasted at Bebin Ngam and nicknamed him “the enemy in the house.” How could he have brought up such a point? This position, daring to propose a rival to Jampassdie, was one that could set fire in the party. So far the opposition was one and indivisible; any attempt to depart from its initial goals was tantamount to destabilisation. He even insisted that militants like Bebin Ngam might have been planted by the ruling party in an attempt to fragment and weaken the opposition. Yet Bebin Ngam was not alone in his position. Controversy is like wine; the thirst increases with an additional cup, so arguments developed with new ideas. The proper measure for democracy lies in the voting. Supporters...