[House Hearing, 114 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
U.S. ELECTION SUPPORT IN AFRICA
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,
GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MARCH 18, 2015
__________
Serial No. 114-19
__________
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida BRAD SHERMAN, California
DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TED POE, Texas BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
MATT SALMON, Arizona KAREN BASS, California
DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California
PAUL COOK, California ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas GRACE MENG, New York
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
RON DeSANTIS, Florida TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
TED S. YOHO, Florida ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
CURT CLAWSON, Florida BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin
DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan
LEE M. ZELDIN, New York
TOM EMMER, Minnesota
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
------
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
International Organizations
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina KAREN BASS, California
CURT CLAWSON, Florida DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee AMI BERA, California
TOM EMMER, Minnesota
C O N T E N T S
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Page
WITNESSES
The Honorable Eric G. Postel, Assistant to the Administrator,
Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development... 3
Mr. William Sweeney, president and chief executive onfficer,
International Foundation for Electoral Systems................. 25
Ms. Gretchen Birkle, regional director for Africa, International
Republican Institute........................................... 38
Mr. Eric Robinson, senior program officer for East and Horn of
Africa, National Endowment for Democracy....................... 48
Mr. Patrick Merloe, director of electoral programs and senior
associate, National Democratic Institute....................... 54
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Eric G. Postel: Prepared statement................. 6
Mr. William Sweeney: Prepared statement.......................... 27
Ms. Gretchen Birkle: Prepared statement.......................... 40
Mr. Eric Robinson: Prepared statement............................ 50
Mr. Patrick Merloe: Prepared statement........................... 57
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 74
Hearing minutes.................................................. 75
The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress
from the State of New Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on
Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International
Organizations: Prepared statement.............................. 76
U.S. ELECTION SUPPORT IN AFRICA
----------
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,
Global Human Rights, and International Organizations,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:15 a.m., in
room 2255 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Tom Emmer (acting
chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Emmer. Today's subject is U.S. election support in
Africa. And I will recognize myself for an opening statement.
Good morning to all of you. I would like to thank our
witnesses for coming before our subcommittee today to testify
on U.S. election support in Africa. I specifically want to wish
Chairman Smith, who is unable to be here today, well and please
know he cares deeply about this issue in the African continent.
Myself, along with Ranking Member Bass, will do our best in his
absence. At this point I would ask that Chair Smith's remarks
be entered into the record.
We will have two separate panels this morning to provide us
with a better understanding of the shifting landscape on the
African continent. The current situation is that Africa is
complex with many African nations holding national elections
this year while enduring ongoing political and civil
instability. Many of the nations such as Nigeria, Central
African Republic, and South Sudan are experiencing difficulties
providing proper security in the face of grave threats such as
Boko Haram, civil war, and regional tension.
In the face of these challenges, the United States is
dealing with fiscal restraints that require us to make
difficult choices. By prioritizing funds to high-risk states,
we risk being late to the party.
I appreciate the opportunity to hear what we are doing to
provide assistance and how we are coordinating with the U.N.,
NGOs, and the states themselves. Many nations, Nigeria, in
particular, present many challenges as the current status of
elections has been in great flux. I would particularly like to
know today what the U.S. is doing to prepare for the elections
now slated for March 28th. The vote may prove to be the most
significant political event in Africa this year.
With over 10,000 people killed and millions displaced since
2009, the security situation is dire. The United States must
provide leadership as Africa's largest economy hangs on by a
thread. While there is great uncertainty in Africa, there are
also real signs of hope and progress. While many of these
states are struggling to forge democratic regimes, they are at
least transitioning to them. While our own fight for democracy
was messy, this is to be expected.
The United States must continue to support these young
nations as it is vital to our interests, regional security, and
economic growth, and to the entire world as Africa continues to
integrate itself into the global economy.
With that, I would like to yield to Ranking Member Bass for
her opening statement.
Ms. Bass. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I want to thank
Chairman Smith. I know he is not with us today. I heard he was
under the weather, but I want to thank him even though he is
not here for his leadership and for calling today's hearing and
for you for serving in this capacity, to give us the
opportunity to examine in depth, the U.S.'s approach and
prioritization of not only our Government's direct election
support, but also our wider democracy and governance efforts in
support of processes that should take place before and after
election events.
I would also like to thank our distinguished witnesses for
today, as well as several Africa-focused and election experts
from leading NGOs in the field of democracy and governance. I
look forward to hearing your perspectives based on the areas of
focus of your respective organizations including challenges and
successes as well as your assessment of the U.S. Government's
level of prioritization and funding of democracy and governance
programming.
I also would be interested in hearing your assessment of
which of the upcoming African elections pose the greatest
challenges in terms of funding, logistics, internal political
dynamics or conflict-related concerns. With over 30
Presidential and parliamentary elections taking place in Africa
between now and the end of 2016, today's hearing couldn't have
been more timely as nations such as Nigeria, Sudan, and the DRC
prepare to go to the polls in 2015. I am not only concerned
with transparency, accountability, and human security in those
specific national elections, but also their impacts on regional
stability.
As noted earlier, while elections are important, we know
they are singular events in the electoral cycle, so it is my
hope that U.S. support for these efforts is inclusive of pre-
election assistance related to access, safety, and integrity of
ballots. One of the on-going concerns I always have is that in
some of the countries where we are not clear where the next
level of leadership is going to come from, what is the U.S.
doing to help to contribute to that leadership development?
Lastly, as we look across the political landscape of the
continent, there seems to be an upward trend in the number of
incumbent leaders attempting constitutional amendments to
extend their terms in office. It would be helpful if all of us
could elaborate on this issue and its implications for the
future of governance on the continent.
And in closing, it is vital that the U.S. maintains its
commitment to peaceful, credible, and transparent elections in
Africa. And it is now up to each of us to ensure effective
coordination, improved diplomatic relations, and the transfer
of the expertise and resources to realize these ends. Thank you
and I yield back.
Mr. Emmer. The Chair recognizes Representative Meadows for
his opening remarks.
Mr. Meadows. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and I thank the
ranking member, Ms. Bass, for her leadership on this particular
issue. I am going to apologize up front. I have got another
hearing and then some budget issues that I am having to deal
with this morning. But I do plan to stay and the reason I am
here, honestly, is to try to not only augment what Chairman
Smith and Ranking Member Bass continue to do in terms of our
outreach with regards to the African continent, but
specifically those--I enjoy a great relationship with many of
our African Ambassadors. And our involvement there is critical.
I think it is one of the areas that has the most potential, but
probably has the most work to do as well. And so it is my hope
that we can hear from you and your testimony and then hopefully
with some follow-up questions together that we will do this in
a bipartisan way to figure out the best way to move forward in
the continent.
Thank you so much. I will yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you. Mr. Eric Postel became USAID's
Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Economic Growth,
Education, and Environment in March 2011. In October 2014, he
was asked by the USAID Administrator to serve as the Assistant
to the Administrator for Africa. Mr. Postel brings to the
position more than 25 years of private-sector experience
working in emerging markets, especially those in Africa. He
also has founded an investment banking and consulting firm,
focusing on emerging markets, worked for Citibank Tokyo, and
served as a commissioner on the U.S. Helping to Enhance the
Livelihood of People Around the Globe Commission.
Mr. Postel, welcome to the committee.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ERIC G. POSTEL, ASSISTANT TO THE
ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR AFRICA, U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Mr. Postel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Bass,
and members of the subcommittee. Thank you very much for your
welcome and for the opportunity to appear before you today. And
I ask that my full testimony be entered into the record.
The U.S. Agency for International Development promotes
better governance as an integral part of our Agency's mission.
Supporting elections and political processes have been a
cornerstone of our work in Africa for more than two decades.
During the last 6 years alone, USAID has worked to improve the
credibility and conduct of elections in at least 34 countries
in Africa.
As you know, USAID's electoral assistance can take multiple
forms. I will mention six of them: One, building the
institutional capacity of electoral commissions; two, helping
to strengthen political parties; three, training media on how
to report responsibly; four, encouraging and promoting
peaceful, nonviolent participation by the citizenry of the
country; five, facilitating the inclusion of women, youth, and
people with disabilities at all stages of the process; and/or
six, equipping nonpartisan election monitors and observers.
We do much of this work by supporting international
organizations including those who are testifying here today and
they have a very long and expert experience in these areas. We
also are increasingly partnering directly with local,
nonpartisan, civil society organizations and networks on
election observation and voter outreach such as NGO 3D in
Senegal and government institutions such as electoral
commissions in Ghana and elsewhere.
In Zambia's recent election earlier this year, USAID
provided critical support to the civil society, to the election
commission, and thousands of nonpartisan citizen observers who
monitored the conduct of the elections and conducted a
sophisticated parallel vote tabulation that confirmed the
official close, and I mean under 10,000 vote, difference in the
results.
In Burundi, where political violence remains a serious
concern, our support typifies what we see as the best practice
of starting to work long before the campaigning even begins.
Soon after the completion of the last elections in 2010, we
began a series of assessments to understand what the situation
had evolved to, the needs, and to identify possible useful
interventions so that by April 2013, we had launched programs
pointing toward this year's election.
And in Nigeria, in close partnership with the United
Kingdom's Department of International Development, we are
supporting a whole host of Nigerian efforts on elections. Our
work in elections administration supports the operations of
what is called the INEC, Independent National Election
Commission. To date, they have distributed 55 million voter
cards to more than 80 percent of the registered voters, a huge
improvement over 2011. The INEC's election support centers will
monitor the deployment of materials and collection of ballots.
We and our partners have also been working with youth to
support their participation in the processes and working as
hard as we possibly can to promote peaceful elections. Lastly,
we are strengthening Nigerian civil society's efforts to hold
candidates, parties, the INEC, and other officials accountable
by observing and reporting out on their own elections. Our
partners are training and deploying more than 3,000 domestic
observers for the Presidential election. However, U.S.
Government support alone cannot determine the success of an
election, particularly when leaders ignore or rewrite the
rules, or deliberately weaken their own institutions to serve
their own interests.
Organizing and conducting credible, legitimate, and
peaceful elections is not without challenges as you referenced.
One of the key lessons we have learned is that strong
institutions and the actual elections are mutually reinforcing.
Elections are only one step in the long process, as you alluded
to, that is required for true democratic transformation. We aim
for our electoral programs to contribute to the whole process,
not just election day. And it is sustained support for the
process of democracy from the halls of the government and the
capital to the village council and across all the full range of
citizens' groups and independent voices is critical to creating
and sustaining an environment where democracy can grow and
thrive.
USAID and its partners have been fortunate to receive
strong support and guidance from this subcommittee and its
hardworking staff which allows us to pursue this important
work.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify this morning. I
look forward to your questions and also to hearing the thoughts
of the experts on the next panel. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Postel follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
----------
Mr. Emmer. Thank you, Mr. Postel.
Before we proceed to questions, Mr. Bera has joined the
committee and I wanted to offer him the opportunity to make any
opening remarks he might have.
Mr. Bera. I am perfectly happy to proceed to questions.
Mr. Emmer. Okay, great. All right, then I will recognize
myself for questions.
Mr. Postel, you went through the six things that USAID does
to encourage a safe and viable, valid electoral process, and
then you came back to it with respect to Nigeria in your
comments right toward the end when you referenced ``we are
committed and working toward promoting peaceful, nonviolent,
electoral processes.'' And then that was number four, and I
have summarized it a little bit differently, but that was the
gist. And then number five was ``encouraging the participation
of young people and women in the process.'' I want to focus on
those two in the brief time that we have this morning. Maybe
Nigeria is a good place to focus since we have got the election
that has been rescheduled from February 14th to March 28th.
First off, the postponement, I am going to throw in one
little curve, too, because you said at the end, ``the process
depends upon''--I am going to paraphrase it. USAID can only do
so much. It really depends on leaders who do not ignore or
rewrite the rules. Can you give us a little bit more insight as
to the specific situation in Nigeria with the postponement and
then I want to come back and ask you to address numbers four
and five a little bit more, both with respect to Nigeria and
more broadly.
Mr. Postel. Thank you for the question, Congressman. As you
probably saw, the State Department issued a statement that they
were disappointed by the delay, but the announcement was that
they basically weren't ready and they needed more time. And
that was the Government of Nigeria's decision. At this stage,
with that as a fait accompli, our focus is to continue to say
that the U.S. Government feels very strongly that we don't want
any more delays and we really do hope that this delay has been
put to good use, to make sure that they are ready and in terms
of the mechanics of the election and also to try to do
everything possible to deal with some of the side effects of
the problems related to Boko Haram and so forth.
So for instance, there are, I believe, close to 1 million
internally-displaced people, people that are not in their
homes. And we have certainly been trying to support the
electoral commission with ideas about how to enable those
people to vote and maximize the ability of all Nigerians across
the whole country to vote. And so we are working hard to
support them in their efforts to have this happen in barely 2
weeks.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you. Back to leaders who ignore or rewrite
the rules. So that wasn't the situation that we were talking
about in terms of leadership in Nigeria postponing this. This
is USAID. From your perspective, this was their taking control
of their own situation, saying they weren't ready, and
postponing it for, until further notice, legitimate reasons.
Mr. Postel. That is what they told us and they set a date
and if they stick to that, I think that we can move forward,
that they felt they needed that time to finish their
preparation.
Mr. Emmer. And as far as USAID, your involvement, because
we heard this back in early February, that you were training
3,000 some folks to be involved in the process. That was ready
to go on the 14th when it was originally scheduled?
Mr. Postel. I believe it was, Congressman.
Mr. Emmer. Now to the two specific things. How do you,
USAID, how does USAID encourage and specific examples if you
will, and if Nigeria is a place to focus on, that is fine, but
pick whatever you want. How do you encourage a peaceful
process?
Mr. Postel. Thank you for your question. It is more art
than science, but it is something that is very important to do.
And there are a number of examples. It is not one specific
thing. One of the things is to encourage a lot of people to
have dialogue and to get a lot of people in the country trying
to talk about the advantages and why peaceful resolution of
issues is a much better way to go. And this----
Mr. Emmer. Can I?
Mr. Postel. Sure.
Mr. Emmer. How do you do that?
Mr. Postel. So we try to work with a lot of different parts
of society. We have on occasion worked with people that are in
the arts who the youth might look up to. We have worked
extensively in some countries with faith-based groups. In fact,
in Nigeria, there is a coalition of Christians and Muslims who
are working in an interfaith center and they are speaking out
about this and trying to encourage it.
I understand that all the media have agreed that some time
next week there is going to be a day where basically this
message of nonviolent elections is going to be on all channels,
talked about all day long, so anybody who has got access to any
media in the country. So what happens is that people just work
through many different channels of civil society.
Of course, the U.S. Government speaks directly about these
subjects, but I think one of the lessons learned over time, is
it is better when the citizens of their own country speak to
their fellow citizens, rather than us across the oceans and so
forth.
Mr. Emmer. I understand that Gretchen Birkle of IRI will
testify that roughly a dozen African nations that are holding
elections this year, they are engaged in civil conflicts or
battling terrorism or domestic insurgencies. You have given me
some of it, I think just now, but what is the USAID policy for
supporting elections in countries like this beyond what you
have just talked about?
Mr. Postel. Thank you for question, Congressman. That is a
great question because it is a very challenging situation and
what we have to do is on the one hand it presents an
opportunity to talk to people in these countries where there is
instability or conflict, that peaceful, nonviolent means of
resolving disputes and having those discussions through civil
society discussions and through elections is a much better way
to go. And so because there are disagreements, it is a chance
to really work on that message and help people learn how to
have those dialogues and encourage the democratic processes.
But, of course, we also have to factor in safety to our own
staff and our partners. And in some cases, we are able to
reconcile both. There have been some cases where we are not
able to perhaps work in an entire country because of the need
to worry about the safety of our partners or our own staff. So
that is the biggest challenge to it which is the safety side.
But there are also opportunities to show people there is
actually a better way and try to work with a lot of voices and
to not let the rabble-rousers and violent extremists control
the narrative and drive people more and more toward violence.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you and I thank the ranking member for her
patience. One last one before I turn it over to her. The
recommendations for governments of national unity have been
widely utilized to redress election misfires. However, can you
suggest any situation in which such blended governments have
succeeded when the main opposition opponent has been included
in a blended government?
Mr. Postel. I am not expert enough to be able to answer
that, but I will be happy to come back to you. It is not an
area that I am familiar with. Thank you for the question.
[The information referred to follows:]
Written Response Received from the Honorable Eric G. Postel to Question
Asked During the Hearing by the Honorable Tom Emmer
Governments of National Unity (GNUs), by this and other names, have
been employed in Africa during post-conflict transitions, as in South
Africa, Sudan, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. More
recently, countries such as Kenya and Zimbabwe have used GNUs as a
temporary mechanism to restore governance after electoral disputes.
This approach has proven useful in the short term for conflict
mitigation, particularly when the GNU period is relatively brief. Yet
over time, these arrangements tend to undermine good governance
principles and practices, while postponing or even exacerbating the
political grievances they were meant to resolve.
American University scholar Carl LeVan has studied the topic and
summarized his findings as follows:
Power sharing agreements have been widely used in Africa as
paths out of civil war. However the research focus on conflict
mitigation provides an inadequate guide to recent cases such as
Kenya and Zimbabwe. When used in response to flawed elections,
pacts guaranteeing political inclusion adversely affect
government performance and democratization. Political inclusion
in these cases undermines vertical relationships of
accountability, increases budgetary spending, and creates
conditions for policy gridlock.
Dr. LeVan's paper and analysis is available at: http://
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2010.01514.x/abstract
Mr. Emmer. Thank you. And if you do have something after,
please supply it. At this point, I will recognize the ranking
member for her questions.
Ms. Bass. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have a couple of
quick questions. One, you were making reference to media in
Nigeria and you were talking about questions calling for it to
be peaceful. Is that an effort that either is one that we are
paying for or subcontracting with or were you just making
reference to an effort that is happening in Nigeria?
Mr. Postel. Thank you for your question, Congresswoman. We
are not paying for the media, but our partners have been
involved in encouraging that this might occur. But Nigerians
are making this happen to the best of my knowledge.
Ms. Bass. Okay, I wanted to know if you could elaborate
where USAID is currently prioritizing democracy and governance
programs amongst its varied objectives. Specifically, what kind
of election assistance does the U.S. support in Africa and
where is USAID focusing? I am a proud member of NED's Board, so
I am aware of that piece. But outside of NED, what does USAID--
in which countries?
Mr. Postel. Thank you for the question, Congressman. I can
get you a complete list, but off the top of my head I believe
this year we are working on a total of 13 or 15 different
elections, most of which are national level. Some of the big
countries--some of the countries where we have the biggest
activities right now include the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Nigeria, Kenya, and so forth. We can get you a full
list. But it is not all inclusive because, for instance, we
just supported the snap election that occurred in Zambia as a
result of the death of the head of state.
Ms. Bass. Right.
Mr. Postel. So the list, of course, varies year to year, as
we try to maximize the efficiency of the resources and adjust
that to deal with the electoral calendar.
[The information referred to follows:]
Written Response Received from the Honorable Eric G. Postel to Question
Asked During the Hearing by the Honorable Karen Bass
The below table notes in which African countries/operating units
USAID had programs addressing democracy and governance issues in 2014.
It also notes where elections-related programs in particular were
active.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Ms. Bass. And speaking about the resources, can you speak
to trends for funding for democracy and governance programming
within USAID? I have heard, and I don't know what the exact
figures are, that it has diminished in previous years.
Mr. Postel. Thank you for your question, Congressman. There
was some decline. We are still spending quite a bit of funds on
these topics. In the President's FY 16 budget, he requested a
total of $300 million for Africa on democracy and governance of
which $62 million would go for the general topic of elections
and consensus building.
Ms. Bass. You know, do we spend any time, and I am just
thinking that the country of Namibia and you mentioned Zambia,
you know, there are examples in Africa where there have been a
sound process, you know, where the transfer of governance has
been peaceful, has been consistent. And we tend to always talk
about the problems. So my question to you is, does USAID spend
any time promoting the good examples? I know there is going to
be an inauguration in Namibia in just a couple of days, but we
do tend to just focus on that and I don't know if we spend any
time talking about positives.
Mr. Postel. Congressman, you see me smiling ear to ear
because in November I was in Zambia to work on things relating
to economic growth and I also met with the electoral commission
and looked at what support we were gave. And then I watched
what happened. And I felt so strongly on this point that you
made that I suggested to our teams that I would author an
article which we put into several African press outlets to
basically talk about the success in Zambia. I am not saying
that it was flawless, but the trend was right. There are other
examples such as Namibia that you mentioned.
Even Kenya, if you think about it, what went on in the most
recent election which incidentally, Congressman, there was huge
work on a massive scale. I mean 1 million-plus youth. It was a
huge amount of work done in Kenya, right from the end of the
disastrous 2007 election to try to prepare through the whole
cycle. And so it was a lot better election. So I fully agree
with you that we need to talk about these because I think they
represent strong models for the other countries and let them
realize that number one, it can be done because as you know,
pulling off elections is actually logistically complicated and
for some of these countries they are very young countries, so
let them know what is possible and that the world commends
those who can pull it off. So I personally think that we have
to do more and I am dedicated to doing more, to trumpet the
success so that we shine a light on that so others can see what
is possible.
Ms. Bass. And you know, I think that is very good and I
would appreciate in the future you letting us know what you
have done in that regard and then how we might be supportive.
But just like I think it is important that we publicize that
within Africa, I also think it is important for us because you
know, when we talk about Africa it is always from the point of
view of some problems, so I think here amongst our colleagues
it is important. But I think that is our responsibility. We can
spread the word on that.
So with that, Mr. Chair, I will yield.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you. The Chair now recognizes, Mr.
Meadows.
Mr. Meadows. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your
testimony so far and I agree with the ranking member that we
need to do a better job of telling the positive things. Some of
us represent districts where supporting Africa and foreign aid
and those kind of things gets us reelected. I am not one that
enjoys that particular constituency. I would assure you. At the
same time, I have been willing to invest political capital on
this particular issue and it is mainly out of my respect for
the ranking member and the chairman and their work in this area
and my love for many of the people, many of whom I have met for
the first time, but having traveled to Africa a number of times
and worked alongside of orphanages or schools or other people
in need, it is critical.
So I say that with the backdrop because I want to focus on
a couple of areas that knowing that you have a willing
participant here, there are some areas that I am extremely
concerned about that I would like for either you to address or
for you to take back to the appropriate people to address. One
is obviously a USAID diplomat was arrested at the DRC within
the last couple of days, on Sunday. You know, this is one that
really, I think, comes under your supervision from a USG point
of view. And here we have a U.S. diplomat being arrested in a
country in which we are involved with, so can you help us
understand the events and has there been follow-up calls with
them and what should we expect?
Mr. Postel. Thank you for your question, Congressman, and
also for your support in an environment where not everybody
agrees with some of this work.
So the individual who is a Foreign Service Officer was at
an event that was meant, per our prior discussion, to encourage
youth to peacefully air their differences and peacefully
participate in electoral processes. There were a number of
people taken into custody at that event by the secret services
of the government there and it took 3 hours until our diplomat
could be released. And I was working on it as it was happening
as was everybody there.
Our Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo was
fully engaged as was the head of USAID's office there and the
whole team. In a follow up, once that person was released, they
have already met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and had a
discussion and expressed our unhappiness with what happened.
Mr. Meadows. I hope expressed our strong disapproval.
Mr. Postel. Yes, sir. Exactly. And the conversations are
not finished. There was also some inaccurate reporting in the
press about what this event was and people are working with the
press and talking to people to clarify their understandings
because it was not as some portrayed it, some attempt by the
opposition party to somehow cause trouble. That is not at all
what it was.
Mr. Meadows. Alright, so let me follow up a little bit then
because I think the message needs to be clear. There is a
finite amount of resources and you have to make a decision each
and every time where you are going to deploy those resources. A
willing or at least an open government that respects the
diplomatic security that comes along with that is a key
component for any of us and we have to make decisions. And so
we want to hear back from you on the results of those follow-up
conversations if you will report back to the chairman and this
committee on that particular aspect of that so that we make
sure that no one is in harm's way. God forbid that it could
have been much worse than what we saw.
[The information referred to follows:]
Written Response Received from the Honorable Eric G. Postel to Question
Asked During the Hearing by the Honorable Mark Meadows
Mr. Kevin Sturr, Director of the USAID/DRC Democracy, Human Rights
and Governance office was detained on March 15 after attending a press
conference organized by a group of civic activists to discuss their new
youth movement called ``Filimbi'' (``whistle blower'' in Swahili). The
press conference followed a workshop with civil society members and
musician activists, including two Young African Leadership Initiative
(YALI) fellows and other YALI network members. Members of Senegalese
youth movement Y'en a Marre and Burkina Faso youth movement Balai
Citoyen were also present and detained along with the owners of the
venue. The event was sponsored in part by the Embassy's Public Affairs
Section. USAID did not financially support the event.
Mr. Sturr was released unharmed several hours after his arrest
following an inquiry by the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa. The U.S. Embassy
protested the detention of U.S. diplomat Kevin Sturr to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in the DRC and to the DRC Ambassador in the United
States. In a discussion with the U.S. Ambassador, the Congolese
intelligence agency indicated that they would complete and submit the
findings of their investigation of Mr. Sturr by Friday, March 20 to the
President. As of this writing (March 27), the government's
determination in this matter is unknown and Mr. Sturr's passport
remains with the Congolese authorities.
Congolese press reports that some members of the Congolese National
Assembly have called for the release of Congolese youth who were
detained. The President of the National Assembly is acting to keep
Members of Parliament (MPs) informed on the matter. Congolese press
further reports that one of the detainees is the son of an opposition
MP.
The United States government often sponsors projects that involve
youth and civil society as part of its broader commitment to encourage
a range of voices to be heard. These non-partisan and non-violent youth
organizations as well as the organizers of the weekend's events
intended to engage youth in their civic duty to take part in the
political process and raise their voices about issues of concern to
them. DRC government officials and ruling coalition parties were
invited to the event.
The U.S. government strongly objects to the DRC government's
violation of basic freedoms of speech and of peaceful assembly. A
troubling trend of the Government of the DRC restricting the freedom of
civil society to speak out is emerging and was accentuated by the civil
unrest of last January, in which students featured prominently.
Recent events underline the importance of USAID's support for free,
fair, credible and timely elections in the DRC through citizen and
voter education and citizen participation in elections observation.
Mr. Meadows. So let me follow up a little bit further. Your
involvement in the democratic process is really not one of
trying to influence governments as much as it is trying to make
sure that the people in those African countries have a voice to
be able to select their own leadership. It is not about setting
up governments, is that correct?
Mr. Postel. Yes, sir. We are not there to push for specific
candidates or specific platforms, but to try to encourage free,
fair, transparent processes that get everybody involved and
intelligently working through the issues.
Mr. Meadows. Well, and I am glad you answered that because
I have met with a number of African leaders, Ambassadors, heads
of state and I have expressed to them over and over our desire
to make sure that we have an open and democratic process. And
many of them believe that our influence, your influence,
candidly, is there to influence the politics of that particular
day. So that is really like nails on a chalkboard because I
know that that is not what any of us want to see there. So you
are here today. Your testimony is that setting up governments
and influencing the outcome is not what it is all about? I
think that should be a softball question.
Mr. Postel. Definitely not, Congressman.
Mr. Meadows. So let me go a step further and this is a
message to take back to some in the State Department. When we
see reports recently of funds being given to a nonprofit that
indirectly, and I don't want to make this political, but when
we see funds, $350,000, being filtrated in to affect elections
in a democratic country of Israel, and you know what I am
talking about, it undermines everything that we are trying to
do and what you are trying to do because they take that
narrative and say well, if you are willing to influence it
there, what is to stop us from influencing it in some African
country? Would you agree that that is a problem?
Mr. Postel. So----
Mr. Meadows. If you were an African leader, let me put it
that way, instead of speaking for USAID. Would you believe that
that would be a problem?
Mr. Postel. I believe that it would be not helpful at all.
It would be a problem if some of these heads of state think
that somehow we are trying to directly advocate for them or
against them as opposed to understanding that we are there
about the process and for the sake of free, transparent, open
elections. So I will take your message back.
Mr. Meadows. And let it be clear, I am here to support you
in any way that I possibly can because I believe in the future
of what you are trying to do and really the future of the
African continent. There is great work to be done there.
At the same time, if the State Department is sending a
conflicting message and I have been silent on a lot of this
stuff, if they are sending a conflicting message, it creates an
integrity problem for me and what I have got to do is make sure
that if you take that back and I am saying this in the
strongest terms, that it will not be tolerated, using American
taxpayer dollars and I want the message to go out to all the
African countries. There are many of us here on Capitol Hill
that believe the use of American taxpayer money to establish a
government of our choosing is not what we do. We want the
people of those countries to establish their own leadership.
Would you agree with that?
Mr. Postel. Yes, sir.
Mr. Meadows. Alright. Thank you. And I again thank you for
your service and I just feel like those two areas are areas
that we need to address. I appreciate the patience of the
chair. We are going to be following all the other four
panelists back in our office. I apologize, I have got to run
and deal with Hezbollah. That is a lot easier than this.
Mr. Postel. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Meadows. Thank you.
Mr. Emmer. The Chair recognizes Mr. Bera.
Mr. Bera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank the
ranking member. Just to reiterate comments that Africa, for all
of its challenges, is a continent full of promise and the work
that you are doing, the work of making sure in the short term
there are free and fair elections and in the longer term that
there is a culture of voting, a culture of peaceful transition
is not easy work, but it is necessary work and certainly
reflects the values of our great nation.
I would also reiterate what my colleague, Congressman
Meadows, suggested that it is not our goal or our business to
do anything other than help ensure free and fair elections. In
that note, I would be curious, as you look at some of the
nations of Africa where USAID and others are engaged in short
term in ensuring free and fair elections, what is the culture
of voting in many of these nations? Again, we have our own
challenges in terms of the culture of voting, but I would be
curious what your sense is, just in general terms.
Mr. Postel. Thank you for your question. I think there are
probably some who are more expert than me, but my general
understanding is that it varies across different countries and
that in some cases there may be a limited experience with
formal voting as we currently experience it here, but there are
elements of selection of village elders or other sorts of
selection processes that actually have a long history, I
believe, in a number of the countries, but it really varies as
you would expect.
Mr. Bera. So maybe that as we approach these countries, as
opposed to saying well, here is what our culture of voting is
and here is how we vote, making sure that we are understanding
their culture of voting and how they might interpret that
selection process which may be slightly different, but still
again if there is a fair and democratic--is that pretty
accurate?
Mr. Postel. Two things, Congressman. First of all, when we
do our work, we always with our partners look at the
circumstances in the country. And so as we design the work in
partnership with local organizations and government and
everybody, we very much try to be sensitive to these
differences to make sure, because that is how you help make
sure it is effective.
But the other thing I would say is that polling over the
last 10, 15 years has shown that the percentage of people who
feel very strongly that they want to vote, they want a
democracy and their understanding of what that involves is
rapidly rising. So in one sense they are coming around and are
really interested in the same sort of democracy that we have
here.
Mr. Bera. Great. Next question. Who are other partner
countries that we are working with? Obviously, France has a
long history on the continent and are there other partner
countries that we are working with, partner democracies?
Mr. Postel. Thank you for your question. There are a bunch.
Of course, France and the UK are active in a number of
countries, especially their former colonies. The Nordics,
Scandinavia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and so forth, have often
worked on elections and civil society and peaceful coexistence
issues across Africa and we have partnered with them.
We see several other donors as well, such as the Canadians,
the Germans, and others. So there are number of different
international donors that work on these things and we are
trying very hard to coordinate with them in all cases and in a
number of cases, outright partner, and do it together.
Mr. Bera. Another question, again, listening to the
questions that Congressman Meadows had asked, you know, I do
hear reports of U.S.-based campaign consultants often getting
hired to go run campaigns in some of these African nations. I
would be curious to get your take. If some of these private
sector campaign consultants are coming in, being hired by one
candidate or another candidate, clearly with the goal of
getting that candidate elected, if that becomes an issue, if
others see--they may not always know that. They will see
someone who is American and they may kind of blur the line. Are
you seeing an increase in kind of these outside private
consultants coming in? Does that make your work more difficult?
Mr. Postel. I am not too expert in that, Congressman, but I
know of some cases where the candidates themselves have hired
external consultants who may be out of the U.S. or they could
also be out of Europe and other places. You know, that is part
of what they do campaigning, but we are sticking to the
process. And we work with political parties to make sure that
they run themselves in a professional way, but it is not about
candidates or platforms or anything like that. And so we are
working also on the mechanics of the election. So to that
extent when they have consultants talking about what the
messages would be or whatever, that is a different area than in
which we are working.
Mr. Bera. And I would just for the record want to make sure
that is not the policy of the United States Government,
although sometimes, again, in the recent elections in Israel, I
think there were folks saying well, it is an administration
trying to influence an election by having consultants go there
again. That is not our policy. Our policy is to ensure free and
fair elections.
The last question, as we look at some of the countries that
were ravaged with Ebola and so forth, are there unique
challenges that again, not knowing exactly what their election
timetable is like, things that USAID is thinking about, going
forward in terms of helping build some of that infrastructure?
Mr. Postel. Thank you for your question, Congressman. You
may remember that actually Liberia had an election in December
amidst this. It does absolutely make it more complicated
because you have people coming in contact and handling things
that they are passing to each other where if somebody were
infected and in the voting queue or whatever, it could actually
lead to transmission; it was widely discussed about how to do
this. And our medical and humanitarian experts, I believe, were
consulted informally about best practices to try to make sure
that that wasn't a problem. And Guinea which has an election
coming up, will also have to be attentive to that. So it is a
concern as we try to deal with the Ebola problem. And then at
the same time, we wouldn't want anybody to have new
complications introduced, but on the same token you have got to
have elections. It is not an excuse not to have elections.
Mr. Bera. Right. Thank you.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you, Mr. Bera. Mr. Postel, thank you very
much for being here today. We appreciate your time and your
testimony. And I just as a matter of form want to make it clear
that your complete submission will be made part of the record
as will the next panel, their complete submissions will be
entered into the record as well. I want to thank you for being
here today and at this point we will call up the second panel.
As they are moving to the table, why don't we introduce
them?
Mr. William Sweeney serves as the president and CEO and
IFES. Prior to these positions, he also served as a member of
the Board of Directors and was board chairman at IFES. He has a
lifelong background in democracy promotion and public policy
with considerable experience in both the public and private
sectors. He was deputy chairman of the Democratic National
Committee and executive director of the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee. He has been an official
election observer in the Philippines, Russia, Jamaica, and
Nicaragua. Welcome to the panel, Mr. Sweeney.
Ms. Gretchen Birkle currently serves as regional director
for Africa, at the International Republican Institute where she
is responsible for developing and managing programs in
transitioning African countries. She has extensive experience
managing democracy and governance programs in closed societies
and developing countries around the world. She served as senior
coordinator at the State Department's Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor where she provided strategic direction
for programming and human rights reporting and represented the
bureau by testifying before Congress. Ms. Birkle has observed
elections in Africa, Asia, Eurasia, and the Middle East.
Mr. Eric Robinson serves as a senior program officer with
the Africa Program at the National Endowment for Democracy. In
his role, he oversees the East, Horn, and Southern Africa
regions and works specifically on Somalia and Eritrea. He also
provides oversight to more than 25 NED Core Institute projects
in the region. Prior to his appointment at NED, he lived in
Puntland, Somalia for 6 months under a U.N. Development
Programme consultancy for civil society and he worked for
several organizations in the United States implementing
federally-funded programs related to refugees, asylees, and
civil society development in newcomer communities in the United
States.
Mr. Patrick Merloe is senior associate and director of
electoral programs at the National Democratic Institute. He has
more than 30 years of experience in promoting citizen
empowerment, governmental accountability, and public policy
advocacy and oversees many of the Institute's programs. Mr.
Merloe has participated in more than 150 international missions
for NDI to more than 65 countries concentrating on conflict-
sensitive states and countries that are vulnerable to
authoritarian tendencies and has produced a dozen publications
on comparative law, human rights, and elections, and he served
as the principal drafter and negotiator of the Declaration of
Principles for International Election Observation.
Thanks to everyone on the panel for being here today and we
will start with testimony from Mr. William Sweeney.
STATEMENT OF MR. WILLIAM SWEENEY, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE
ONFFICER, INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
Mr. Sweeney. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Bass, and
distinguished members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the
International Foundation for Electoral Systems, I deeply
appreciate this opportunity to discuss the impact of U.S.
electoral support in sub-Saharan Africa.
Let me start by commending this subcommittee for its
constant engagement and focus on all the issues concerning
democratic development in Africa. This hearing is another
spotlight by the subcommittee, thank you.
Since 1987, the International Foundation for Electoral
Systems, better known as IFES, has worked in over 145 countries
to support citizens' rights to participate in free, fair,
transparent, and accountable elections. Our active programs in
Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Cote
d'Ivoire, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda,
and Zimbabwe empower the individuals and institutions that make
democracy work at every turn of the electoral cycle.
IFES provides technical assistance to strengthen local
capacity and electoral inclusiveness in societies that aspire
to realize their full democratic potential.
Mr. Chairman, as we prepare for Nigeria's March 28th
election, we should recognize that every Nigerian who votes is
choosing the ballot over the bullet. Nigeria has a history of
election-related violence. There were violent episodes in 2007
and 2011. Nigerians' vote this time is a personal rejection of
Boko Haram, their public threats to this election, and the
terrorist legacy since 2009 of 13,000 dead, 1.5 million forced
to flee their homes, and kidnappings including the 219
schoolgirls. In the United States, political factions don't
kill poll workers and burn down polling stations.
On March 28th, Nigerians will once again courageously
exercise their human right to choose the leadership of their
country and to vote for stability and democracy. Since taking
his post as chairman of the Independent National Electoral
Commission or the INEC in late 2010, Chairman Jega has brought
a new level of professionalism and integrity to the
institution. The introduction of the biometric register, while
costly, was seen by many Nigerians as an important step in
cutting down on the possibility of voter fraud and ballot
stuffing. Since 2010, Chairman Jega has also pioneered internal
reorganization of INEC's departments as well as new policies
and procedures to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the
bureaucracy.
Domestic and international observers commended the INEC for
process improvements and their integrity in the conduct of the
2011 elections, a substantial improvement over 2007, according
to the Department of State statement. Despite the highly
politicized environment surrounding the INEC and the elections
in Nigeria, Chairman Jega has managed to maintain a reputation
for being impartial and professional and is well respected by
Nigerian civil society and citizens. He will finish his term in
June 2015.
Let me now briefly summarize our written statement. All the
political situations in the countries under discussion are
fragile. Public institutions have large mandates with little
time to build capacity even if resources are available. None of
the electoral management bodies, or EMBs, in these countries
have had the luxury of time in office to demonstrate
independence from the political tensions and unrest currently
underway. However, the elections represent the best of
opportunity to peacefully address political disputes and give
all parties time to come together as a community and as a
nation.
The alternative to the election process and outcome is
quite simple and direct. Military or authoritarian rule is
hopefully a closing chapter in Africa, but it remains a clear
alternative. U.S. assistance to the election process remains
critical to supporting the voices and votes of the Africans who
have demonstrated a hope for democracy both according to
polling data and by their courage to vote.
IFES' focus is the election process conducted by the public
institution, the election management body. Much of the cost of
an election, personnel, infrastructure, down to ballots and
ballot boxes, are part of the public budget of the country.
Technical assistance introduces global standards, best
practices, strategic planning, and specialized programs for
outreach to women, persons with disability, youth, ethnic,
indigenous, and religious minorities which are of particular
importance in conflict zones.
The challenges in Africa are both immediate, 25 elections
are scheduled in the next 21 months, and imminent. Africa has a
young population about to come of age and enter their society
as adults. The Afrobarometer suggests that young voters will
participate, but their expectations are higher and they will
then drop out of the process if things do not change.
IFES is proud of its record of partnership in sub-Saharan
Africa. We are both honored and grateful for the confidence
USAID, the U.S. Department of State, and our international
partners have demonstrated in our capacity and commitment
through their continued support. Mr. Chairman, and members of
the subcommittee, democracy in Africa will certainly be tested
in 2015 and beyond. The real tests are ahead of us.
In 2014, there were more South African voters who came of
age since Nelson Mandela's first election in 1994 than the rest
of the electorate. The rest of the electorate remembered the
apartheid era. But that wasn't the majority of voters in South
Africa in 2014. The demographic challenge of the next
generation--their aspirations and their fears--were made
personal to all of us by another investment in their future by
the U.S. Congress: The Mandela Washington Fellows attending
last summer's U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.
There are no final victories in politics, or elections, or
democracy. The challenges will always be ahead of us. Democracy
is not measured in one moment, one election, one success, or
one failure. It is an ongoing process, and one that the
International Foundation for Electoral Systems is committed to
support. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Sweeney follows:]
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----------
Mr. Emmer. Thank you, Mr. Sweeney.
Ms. Birkle.
STATEMENT OF MS. GRETCHEN BIRKLE, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA,
INTERNATIONAL REPUBLICAN INSTITUTE
Ms. Birkle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Bass,
and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for this opportunity
to testify on election support in Africa. Given how many
Africans will head to the polls in 2015 and over the next
several years, preparing is extremely timely. The International
Republic Institute in Africa works to encourage democracy in
places where it is absent, help democracy become more effective
where it is in danger, and share best practices where democracy
is flourishing.
While there are best practices that can serve as models for
other countries, there are also broader challenges that could
hinder elections in Africa. I would like to highlight four of
those broader challenges today. Many African states have made
steady progress toward developing and consolidating democracy
following centuries of colonialism and underdevelopment, yet,
genuine multi-party democracy has yet to take root in most
countries and this is the first challenge to highlight as we
look at elections in these countries.
The limited capacity of political parties to govern, that
is, to exercise legitimate authority and provide basic services
to citizens is contributing to increasing citizen distrust and
apathy, low voter turnout, and a failure of expectations of
democracy among many Africans throughout the continent.
A second challenge is the pervasive trend to attempt to
change the rules of the game. Specifically, there are
increasing attempts to change laws and yes, even constitutions,
to evade term limits. Once in power, leaders often have no
desire to foster peaceful, political transitions and instead
openly work to change the rules to stay in power. These
attempts to change the rules of the game have not gone
unnoticed by the people of Africa. Citizens are now protesting
against incumbents who are seeking to extend their term in
office and unfortunately, these protests often turn violent
like we saw last October in Burkina Faso.
What happened in Burkina Faso has had a significant impact
on the region and citizens in each country are keeping an eye
on their neighbors. As an opposition Member of Parliament from
Kinshasa recently told me here in Washington, DC, people in
Burundi have seen how the Congolese stood up and the Congolese
saw how the people in Burkina Faso stood up. The upcoming
elections in DRC are important not only for DRC, but for all of
Africa. This underscores the critical need to look at elections
and the challenges impacting them along regional lines and not
only in isolation for each country.
A third challenge that could impact the outcome of
elections in Africa is the huge youth demographic on the
continent. The region has the youngest population in the world
with two-thirds of its 1 billion population under the age of 25
and half of the population under the age of 19. This means that
for many youth, elections set to occur over the next few years
will present the first opportunity for them to exercise their
right to vote. Tapping into the voices and desires of young
people is a challenge for the region, but one that holds
extraordinary potential for ushering in new leaders with new
ideas. African nations must find ways to engage their growing
youth populations to participate positively in the electoral
process and help shape the future trajectory of their
individual countries and the region as a whole.
The fourth challenge is the potential for electoral
violence and ongoing civil conflict. 2015 will be a year of
contentious politics where preexisting tensions will intersect
with elections. There is an urgency to devise strategies now to
prevent and manage electoral violence. This is critical since
recurring electoral violence may cause citizens to lose faith
in democratization.
Now looking forward, it is imperative to view elections as
a process, not a single event. Continued support is needed
between elections in order to see sustainable progress. For
example, now is the critical time to support aid efforts to
encourage broad-based and inclusive strategies for mobilizing
voters, particularly marginalized populations such as youth.
Citizen engagement and conflict prevention efforts are
important and are complemented by polling and programs that
encourage political parties and candidates to campaign on
policy issues, rather than personalities.
Ultimately, the challenges Africa faces, leaders evading
term limits, marginalization of youth, ongoing civil conflicts
and potential for election-related violence, are all related to
the lack of strong multi-party democratic systems. Once nations
fully embrace and adopt competitive, representative, political
processes with all of its checks and balances, then these
challenges will be better addressed. We should support Africans
and their pursuit of prosperity with sustainable democratic
institutions and processes where all individuals have the
opportunity and incentive to participate in the political
process. And where peaceful, political transitions can occur,
the people of Africa will be freer to pursue their political
and economic aspirations. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Birkle follows:]
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----------
Mr. Emmer. Thank you, Ms. Birkle.
Mr. Robinson.
STATEMENT OF MR. ERIC ROBINSON, SENIOR PROGRAM OFFICER FOR EAST
AND HORN OF AFRICA, NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY
Mr. Robinson. Mr. Chairman, ranking member, members of the
committee, I am honored to speak before your subcommittee
regarding the National Endowment for Democracy's support for
elections in Africa.
NED began funding civil society organizations working on
elections in Africa 25 years ago when we made the first such
grant to an organization called GERDDES to monitor the historic
elections in Benin in 1990. Last year, NED made nearly 250
grants in Africa and as many as half of these supported
election processes in some way. Since the critical role of
elections in Africa has already been recognized, I will focus
on how NED engages in Africa on elections.
Elections are a necessary, but not sufficient, condition
for democracy. Concerning elections, NED supports NGOs that
provide civic education, monitor rights violations, and provide
forums for citizens to express their views. Currently, many
African leaders have attempted to change the constitution to
enable them to run for more than two terms, and civil society
groups have raised the alarm. This was most recently so in the
case of DRC which is NED's largest program in Africa. Most of
our nearly 50 partners in DRC have focused on the current
political process including elections later this year and next
year.
Elections give citizens and institutions practice,
knowledge, and familiarity with democratic culture. Even flawed
elections can provide space for civil society to conduct civic
education. And in relatively closed political environments such
as Sudan, Chad, Rwanda, or Ethiopia, NED is supporting civic
groups that work in a limited space with the aim of expanding
it and laying the foundation for a future democratic
dispensation. Elections are not a 1-day event. NED supports
domestic observation groups that may follow the process for
months or years beforehand. Our grantees have advised electoral
commissions, observed and supported voter registration, audited
voter lists, monitored media, and organized debates and voter
forums.
Elections can serve as a means of conflict resolution, but
they can also lead to violence. Therefore, we have supported
groups promoting peace and resolving conflict, often in the
context of elections. Through CIPE, NED supported the Kenya
Association of Manufacturers which played a role in ending the
violence after the 2007 elections. Currently in Nigeria, we
have grantees that train citizens in the north on conflict
resolution and the women's organization promoting Christian-
Muslim dialogue. These are but a few examples.
Africa is the world's youngest continent and as
demonstrated in Senegal and Burkina Faso last year, youth are
moving to the front line of political change whether through
elections or popular uprising. In partnership with the World
Movement for Democracy, just last weekend NED brought together
nearly 100 young democratic activists from across Africa to
share experiences and information regarding these transitions.
NED's partners engage youth in election processes, pointing
them in a positive, democratic direction.
Women have been politically marginalized in much of Africa,
but when given the chance have provided tremendous leadership
in civil society and government. NED is supporting IRI and NDI
to cultivate women's political leadership and the Solidarity
Center is working with women to expand their role within unions
and labor associations in Africa. With NED funds, the Nigerian
Federation of Women produced television programs promoting
women's participation in these upcoming elections. In
Somaliland, women and youth organizations provided nearly all
the monitors for their successful elections. And in Uganda,
CEWIGO has had success in cultivating a new generation of
female politicians.
We have often seen in Africa that today's democratic
champion can become tomorrow's despot, so we don't pick a
winner. NED respects pluralism and the political process in
support of free and fair elections. Normally, party training is
not conducted within 30 days of an election. Funds may not
support the candidacy of candidates for public office, and by
and large, whatever political loyalties our partners may have,
their programs are nonpartisan.
And the politics of the belly still rules much of Africa,
meaning that political office often affords the best
opportunity for securing material wealth through patronage. NED
has supported groups conducting investigative reporting and
campaigns against corruption. Our partners help citizens
understand that elected officials are their representatives,
not their patrons, and that they should not sell their vote for
a bag of rice as NAYMOTE, a long-time Liberian grantee,
successfully campaigned.
Africans want elections. Even if citizens in some countries
are apprehensive about election violence, corruption and
impunity have caused apathy. NED's partners support
participation and mobilization and those who have observed
elections in Africa can testify to the commitment and
enthusiasm of voters who may stand in line for hours.
Elections and democracy may still be a work in progress in
Africa. We and our grantees are optimistic about the future.
Mr. Chairman, ranking member, and members of the committee,
I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Robinson follows:]
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Mr. Emmer. Mr. Merloe.
STATEMENT OF MR. PATRICK MERLOE, DIRECTOR OF ELECTORAL PROGRAMS
AND SENIOR ASSOCIATE, NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE
Mr. Merloe. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Bass,
distinguished members of the subcommittee and thank you for
entering our full statements into the record. I associate
myself with the comments of my colleagues and will not be
repetitive of their remarks. Rather, I will concentrate on our
concerns and eight recommendations that were presented in my
statement.
Mr. Chairman, NDI has worked in 43 African countries on a
wide variety of democracy-support programs including partnering
with political parties, parliaments, civil society groups, and
democratic reformers in government in more than 100 elections,
plus we have observed international elections in Africa in 49
examples in 24 African countries.
The vast majority of these programs have been made possible
by USAID, the NED, and DRL. And we greatly appreciate the trust
that they have placed in the Institute to conduct programs that
correspond with the vital interests of the people of this
country and correspond with the democratic aspirations of the
people of those African states.
I would like to use your example, Mr. Chairman, of Kenya,
if I may. Kenya's 2007 elections demonstrated the horrific
consequences of the lack of diligence by citizens and the
international community. While the 2013 elections and the
interim period between those two demonstrated the positive
consequences of concerted efforts to build democratic
institutions and processes.
If Kenya's 2017 elections are to move forward and avoid the
possibility of falling back into violence and other problems,
concerted efforts and focused international support is needed
beginning now and moving forward. This is a lesson that should
be applied across the continent when we look at elections and
democratic support. The need for sustained, long-term, and
multifaceted support for organizing peaceful, credible
elections in Africa stands out in many examples beyond Kenya.
The risks for failing to achieve them are extraordinarily high,
while the benefits for governing, stability, and for inclusive
authentic development are essential to progress on the
continent.
Yet, there appears to be decreasing levels of support for
democratic governance in Africa and a concentration on a small
number of countries. This could have an unintended negative
consequence, not just on organizing peaceful elections, but on
democratic development, which is a cause for concern.
Public confidence and credibility of elections is vital to
public trust in government. That trust is important for
government stability which is essential to peace and security.
This is particularly important today when we are challenged
internationally by extraordinarily violent forces that reject
democracy and human rights.
Support for democratic elections in Africa should build
long-term democratic, political dynamics. The support should
include encouraging reform of winner-take-all political systems
and related politics. This can contribute to effective
democracy that roots out corruption, improves lives, and
reduces the possibility for political violence. Political
parties that engage citizens on issues concerning improving
their lives, rather than on personalities, on ethnicity, tribe,
or religion are essential to developing peaceful, democratic
elections and democratic governance in Africa. Electoral
support needs to help political parties build capacities,
structures, and communication mechanisms in this respect.
Party programming needs to encompass political steps that
lead to the camps eschewing electoral violence. Support also
should bolster parties' capacity to improve legal frameworks to
verify the accuracy of key electoral processes and to gather
the evidence that is necessary to pursue effective legal
redress.
Mr. Chairman, citizen election monitoring is critical to
support for African elections. Monitoring and advocacy by
African citizen groups are making a sustained contribution to
peaceful, credible elections by witnessing key election
processes over the long arc of elections, for analyzing
electoral data, making and reporting findings, and for making
recommendations for improvements in electoral and political
processes. Election monitoring spread across the continent
through a peer-to-peer approach that included assistance to
developing expertise and then helping experts move to other
countries to bring with them the best techniques and core
organizational structures that are needed. NDI's experience in
assisting those groups demonstrates that organizational
development and skills consolidation is difficult to sustain
when support is limited to short periods immediately before
elections.
Many of these groups have formed subregional networks.
Those networks help each other and they all come together in
the Global Network for Citizen Election Monitoring (GNDEM),
which has over 200 member organizations in 82 countries, 37 of
them in Africa. In that network, they provide skill sharing,
best practices, they adopt innovations, and they build
solidarity for one another when pressure comes upon those
groups.
Electoral support should focus on aiding these groups and
on the professional development of these regional and global
networks based upon the ethical foundations that are provided
in the Declaration of Global Principles that GNDEM, the global
network, has provided, launched by the United Nations
Secretariat in 2012.
Mr. Chairman, parallel vote tabulations, as Mr. Postel
mentioned, by citizen organizations play a key role in
decreasing political volatility and mitigating potential for
violence. The precision of PVTs in gauging whether the voting
and counting processes support an honest result and in
projecting statistically with large degrees of confidence and
low margins of error, are important for building public
confidence in elections as was the case cited most recently in
Zambia, but also it has been true in Ghana and other places
around the continent. In fact, NDI has assisted the successful
implementation of 38 parallel vote tabulations in more than 11
African countries, and these techniques are being taken up in
other places. Support for Africa elections should prioritize
the assistance to these nonpartisan election monitoring groups,
particularly to take up systematic assessments of election
processes.
Let me conclude by addressing briefly international
election observation, which can play an important role in
achieving peaceful, credible elections in Africa. The key
organizations that engage in international observation come
together in coordinating their efforts increasingly and
harmonizing their findings in a process that is built around
the Declaration of Principles for International Election
Observations launched at the United Nations Secretariat in
2005. The African Union, ECOWAS, Francophonie, and other
African groups come together in this process with EU, the OSCE,
the OAS, Carter Center, NDI, and the other convening
organizations in order to help build best practices and some
peer accountability. Support for African elections should
provide assistance for key organizations to fully engage in
that implementation process. This could significantly reduce
the potential for well-known international organizations
issuing different findings about African elections. Thank you,
Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Merloe follows:]
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----------
Mr. Emmer. Thank you, Mr. Merloe.
I will recognize myself to start. I will note that Mr.
Clawson has joined the subcommittee and everybody this morning
had many different conflicts.
Mr. Clawson. I had three at once, so please don't take
offense. Sorry about that.
Mr. Emmer. If you have any opening remarks that you want to
make at this point?
Mr. Clawson. I never come to a party late and then start
talking right away. I will jump in the game in a little while.
I am glad you all came and glad for the service that you all do
for so many folks around the world, so thank you for coming
today. Thanks.
Mr. Emmer. Mr. Sweeney, I want to start with you. You made
the reference that young Africans' expectations are higher. I
think I know what that means, but could you just expand on that
part of your testimony?
Mr. Sweeney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Simply put, the
patience of the younger generation around the world is much
lower than the patience of old folks like myself. Particularly
in Africa, we are seeing an expectation, a demand, that things
change and things change quickly. And that means that the
political process has to be responsive to those demands or else
they drop out. And given the size of that population, that then
becomes a threat to the stability of their countries and their
cultures going forward because they will come back into the
system in some way, in an angry way, perhaps, as we have seen
in other countries.
In Africa, when you look at the demographics, and
particularly go back to South Africa where in talking with
friends of mine on the South African Election Commission, I
said what is your greatest challenge? And they said a majority
of voters have no memory of apartheid. They have no memory of
Nelson Mandela's entire struggle because they came of age since
he was elected President. That is an enormous challenge in
terms of civic education, in terms of trying to do outreach
among those citizens. In other countries in the Middle East, we
see the same problem right now where people have participated
in elections, those elections have not had consequences that
they imagined or desire, and they are dropping out of the
process.
Mr. Emmer. And I appreciate you focusing it on Africa and
some other places, but when you opened it, I think the ranking
member and I agree that I think the statement is applicable all
around the globe that the younger folks have less patience.
Ms. Bass. We were young once. We remember that.
Mr. Emmer. I am still very young, but thank you for
recognizing that.
Mr. Sweeney, USAID has a booklet acknowledging the entirety
of the election cycle, so the understanding and importance of
the whole process. Do you believe funding is the major reason
why such programming is more limited than it might be?
Mr. Sweeney. I think there is a combination, sir. The
first, obviously, is funding. All development agencies around
the world engage in democracy and governance have had funding
issues over the course of the last few years, both because of
the fiscal crisis and competing demands.
The second is, candidly, this field has become much more
robust and we have become much more sophisticated and as such
all of the organizations have spawned other organizations so
there is a greater demand than there was say when I was doing
my first mission with NDI and IRI doing political training in
Hungary and the Berlin Wall was still up. This investment in
the philosophy of democracy has attracted hundreds of
organizations, both global and national, that are doing great
work. And that places greater demands on grant-making
organizations be they NED or USAID or any of the other
foundations or international donors.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you. Ms. Birkle, you state that parties
are too personality driven. By the way, Mr. Merloe referenced
this as well. And we will stay on this, but it caught me, the
quote caught me that we need people to focus on campaign
issues, rather than personalities. I think that is probably a
global issue, too.
Ms. Bass. Sounds familiar.
Mr. Emmer. Yes, just a little bit. But if you can, has
there been measurable success in helping African political
parties create coherent party platforms that build sustainable
party structures to select viable candidates?
Ms. Birkle. Thank you. There has been success. I would even
point to limited success currently in Nigeria where we have
been working with USAID funding over the past 2 or 3 years and
even when our programs first started in the late '90s with
political parties in Nigeria, to really have them embrace
internal party reforms and the notion of issue based political
parties. We have been able to have public opinion polls in
several countries that have helped political parties understand
the importance of issues and what that means to electorates and
how they can devise campaigns around the issues to help them
run more effective campaigns and really to encourage greater
participation from the electorate.
We just finished a public opinion survey in Uganda that
will be released later this week. We hope that that is going to
serve as a basis for many of the Ugandan political parties as
they look to elections next year.
Mr. Emmer. Mr. Merloe, since you brought up this as well,
do you have anything you want to add?
Mr. Merloe. I think it is incredibly important that we look
at political parties over the arc of time. Most of the
countries that we are talking about in Africa started with
relatively low levels of political organization. Of course,
South Africa was different. The liberation movements were very
well organized and needed to make the transition to seeking
votes at the ballot box which IRI and NDI and others helped to
do. But that level of organization has not been present in many
countries. So first we start with those people who are seeking
governmental powers which are sometimes coming out of those
conflicts, where we are looking at an armed basis for competing
for powers. And with that, there needs to be a kind of
transition work that brings into the process lots of the
population to mitigate the potentials for violence, including
civil society playing a critical role. You can get through the
transition elections and help those political organizations
begin to take on qualities that are more like political
parties.
In other places, where you are starting with personality-
driven politics, which as you noted is very well established
around the world, it is helping people see that if they each
stand separately, they are likely to divide the population that
might support the change in their country, so learning how to
come together in coalitions becomes a very important activity.
And then, of course, if a coalition succeeds as happened in
Kenya three elections ago, you have to help them learn how to
be a governing coalition, which is a very complicated process
in Parliament. So all of these things are necessary, and we
have to work very hard on it. Just last week in South Africa,
we brought together the secretary generals of political
parties, opposing and government political parties, from 14
countries in the SADC region in order to try to determine what
is an agenda for strengthening parties looking forward on the
continent in the next 10 years. This is a constant process.
Mr. Emmer. Mr. Robinson, I have got one for you. You state
in various ways that elections are not the be all end all of
democracy. I think you started your testimony with that. In
what way does any defunding complement USAID funding to ensure
that democratic processes in Africa are built from the
grassroots up and not just from the top down, kind of
continuing on like Mr. Merloe just was?
Mr. Robinson. Thank you for your question, Mr. Chairman. I
think it is recognizing that it is a long term, incremental
process when you start talking about ideas and concepts and
seating them. So what we do is we look at grassroots
organizations to begin that process in areas and places where
people haven't been exposed to these ideas. And by slowly
tilling that soil, by pushing these concepts out there, at the
request of people who submit proposals, it should be repeated
that the endowment does not tell people what to do. We receive
proposals from people, the programs that they want to
implement. And so what we do is we till that soil, the concepts
go out there, and then when some of our partner organizations
come in and they have a very focused strategy on elections, on
processes, the ground is ready. People are ready to engage with
the actors that are in governing positions.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you. At this point, I will recognize the
ranking member for 5 minutes.
Ms. Bass. Thank you. I just have a few questions that are
kind of all over the place. I was thinking of the Nigeria
election coming up. How confident are you, and I would throw
that open to anybody who would like to answer, about the
security issue. We understand that was the reason the elections
were postponed, so what has happened?
Mr. Sweeney. I will take a first stab. The security
situation, if you really follow the press and reports from the
military, they are confident, at least so far that they have
been successful over the course of the last 6 weeks. Of course,
we are dealing with a terrorist organization that has
threatened to engage in disruption of the election process and
as we all know, terrorists only need one incident in order to
claim some success.
Nigeria also has a history of election violence between
parties and factions. I suspect we will see some of that as
well, so discerning what was normal crime on election day that
does happen everywhere around the world versus electoral-
related violence versus terrorist activities will be subject of
some inquiry.
There are numerous efforts, including some by IFES, to try
and chronicle this to be able to exchange information very,
very quickly using social media and other forums. The INEC
itself has a command center in partnership with the security
forces, so I think the entire country will be on alert as best
it can be.
Ms. Bass. Is anybody aware of what is happening in Sierra
Leone? The Vice President, I guess, was just dismissed. He was
seeking asylum at the U.S. Embassy. I didn't know if any of you
were aware of that which I think is unfortunate.
Burkina Faso, do you think that what happened there will
have a chilling effect or will it be hopeful? In other words,
in countries that might be considering delaying their
elections, given what happened there, do you think that sends a
signal that maybe that is not the best idea or does it send the
other message which is a chilling effect to the population to
just, you know, go along and cooperate?
Mr. Robinson?
Mr. Robinson. I think you have seen the impact of what
happened in Burkina Faso and DRC with the arrest that took
place the other day. Some of the people that were engaged in
Burkina Faso were there at the event and I think there is the
perception by countries that are considering delaying
elections, even in a round about way as they were in DRC that
they view this as a threat. And so yes, this has been--they are
taking notice, authoritarian leaders, in particular, across the
continent.
Ms. Bass. How do you think the populations are responding?
Mr. Robinson. The populations, as was said earlier, people
are responding like hey, it is happening elsewhere. This is
exciting. But in Africa when someone comes down on you hard,
they come down on you hard and they shoot live ammunition into
crowds or people are just simply disappeared. So they take that
to heart because they have experienced it time and time again.
Ms. Bass. Mr. Merloe or Ms. Birkle?
Mr. Merloe. Thank you, ranking member. I believe that Eric
summarized it very, very well. On the one hand there is a tug
of war between people who would impose authoritarian regimes
and people who have over the arc of history struggled to have
governments that are representative of the population. And what
happened in Burkina Faso, with people coming to the street, I
think in many ways, inspired people not just in Africa, but
also those who learned of it around the world. And as my
colleague sitting over here, Dr. Keith Jennings, likes to say,
``I haven't seen many examples of people coming to the streets
demanding more authoritarianism.''
So they are not always successful. Sometimes, as we have
seen in Egypt, they are beaten back. Sometimes they are
attacked, as we have seen in other countries like in Ukraine
being attacked. But nonetheless, what we see around the world
is a consistent drive for having representative government.
Now, we have a little bit of a discussion that is going on
around this town about democratic recession, that in the last 9
years we haven't seen as many dramatic breakthroughs as we have
in the 10 or 20 years before that. But if we look at this over
the time when World War II ended, when there were less than a
dozen democracies after fighting the horrendous
authoritarianism in the Second War World, the Berlin Wall was
going up then, and military dictatorships were being
established around the world. Colonialism was trying to come
back and from that arc until today there have been tremendous
progress. And I think that is very true on the African
continent. My work goes around the world, but in 23 African
countries, I find this to be more inspiring than I see
troubling.
Ms. Bass. A couple more, and this is directed to you. You
were asking--you were talking about the Nigerian parties and
identifying issues and the Ugandan political parties and I just
wanted to know if you could expand on that and one place I
would like to go, I have never quite understood, I know NDI and
IRI sometimes work in the same countries, but I really don't
know what you do differently. And when you were talking about
political positions and all that it certainly piqued my
curiosity, so what are you guys doing?
Ms. Birkle. Thank you. In terms of IRI and NDI, we work
very closely in many, many countries and Nigeria is a good
example of that. Uganda, Kenya, there is a whole host of
countries where we are together, but there are some countries
where we are not. And some of that has just been choices
because of restricted funding amounts or divisions of
leadership to engage in one country or not another. And that is
different globally. But in general, and with the International
Foundation for Electoral Systems and also with our NED
partners, there is a real very healthy sense of camaraderie and
competition amongst the institutes in the countries where we
work.
Ms. Bass. So what perspectives do you bring? I mean I think
you know where I am going. Do you bring political positions?
Because when you talked about that, that is what I was
wondering.
Ms. Birkle. We don't. You know, once we are working
overseas, we really are working around issues that are germane
to those countries. And so when I am conducting and IRI is
conducting political party survey research, for example, it is
really based on the issues that the people of those countries
are telling us are important to them.
Ms. Bass. I would love to see those surveys.
Ms. Birkle. Certainly.
Ms. Bass. And I don't mean to just--I referenced you
because you mentioned that, but you might do issues that are
germane to the countries, but how you interpret those issues,
so I would direct that to you, Mr. Merloe, where you come from
and how you interpret that.
Mr. Merloe. Good question. NDI has worked since our
founding in what you might say is a multi-ideological fashion.
We are associated with the political party internationals
across the spectrum and often bring them together in our work.
We integrate Republicans and Democrats and people from various
political parties around the world into our work. And when we
are working with political parties on how to take an issue
orientation toward their citizens, what we try to help them to
do is face outward to the citizens and get citizen input. Let
the citizens define what are the critical issues for them, and
then help those parties look at research, this side and that,
and formulate their own positions. What we don't do is: IRI
does not work with parties on the right, and NDI work with
parties on the left. We work across the political spectrum to
promote democratic, political dynamics.
Ms. Bass. So you are going to come here and help us?
Mr. Merloe. We are not allowed to work inside the United
States.
Ms. Bass. Okay, thank you very much. I appreciate it. I
yield back.
Mr. Emmer. Thank you, ranking member. The Chair recognizes
Representative Clawson for 5 minutes.
Mr. Clawson. So if I missed something that you all said in
your openings, if I am repetitive in some way, you all will
forgive me because I wasn't here, okay? So as I think about
what I have read about what you all do, how you get it
accomplished, I draw from my own experience in the private
sector for many years and my own experience in my many visits
to Africa.
Kind of my starting point is socialism destroys wealth and
it is tough to bring people up that way. Private enterprise, if
it is crony capitalism is unfair and it causes a lot of people
consternation because they don't have private property rights
and people that want to get ahead don't really have a shot
because those in power have got all the economic resources for
themselves. And that too often, we are in one place or another.
We are way too socialistic which destroys wealth because it
ignores competitive marketplaces. Or we are in the crony
capitalism bucket where bunches of a small amount of people
have got it all for themselves and then everybody else is in
the middle suffering.
And then I say to myself well, try to do elections in that
environment. Can you really do that? And if I was sitting in
you all's chair I would say in the countries where you don't
have private property rights, economic opportunity for folks,
what is the point of trying to get elections, you know? People
just are going to get stamped down anyway.
And so it kind of feels like you have to narrow where you
want to shoot and use your resources to where there is a match
of economic opportunity with electoral opportunity. I am not
even sure that is a word. Am I making sense to you all? And if
I am, what does that mean in your own efforts and why are you
laughing at me right now? If my question is way off base, you
tell me, but it is how I think about things. Go ahead.
Mr. Robinson. Thank you for your question. I guess I will
start by saying that one of the things you are addressing is
for NED and people with whom we work on the continent, it is
the issue of corruption and I think looking at the issue of
crony capitalism it is paralyzing. What happens when you have
so much money flowing to only a few people and the business
sector is not on a level playing field. People can't compete
with their own ideas.
Mr. Clawson. And just to interrupt, the typical poor voter
equates democracy with that crony capitalism?
Mr. Robinson. What they see is wow, this dream of democracy
that we have had for decades, is this what it is? And that is
exactly it. This democratic dispensation isn't coming through.
However, a lot of them, just like many people around the world
are able to distinguish they don't say oh, you are an American,
I don't like you. They are able to separate things out. And
people are also able to say hey, we still want the vote.
Someone referred to Afrobarometer statistics. Afrobarometer
shows very clearly that Africans support democracy. Africans
support the right to vote. And what we are looking at right now
is how do we do more forensic accounting in terms of the money
that we give in Africa? How do we get them to engage to be more
transparent in terms of how money goes in and how their
relationships are conducted so that money is spent in the
country to build institutions, to build confidence and trust in
the institutions? And when you have again, like you said, crony
capitalism or people controlling all aspects of the state, it
is very difficult to make it happen.
Mr. Clawson. Is my correlation correct or am I all wet? Is
there a higher to what you just said? Is there a higher degree
of involvement or desire to be involved in the political
process when there is economic opportunity for everyone? Or is
it more when there is less because people want change and they
are more desperate or do you know? Yes, sir.
Mr. Sweeney. First of all, Congressman, I never call a
Congressman who is asking a question all wet.
Mr. Clawson. But you are about to.
Mr. Sweeney. No, I am not, sir. But I am going to say that
we are all--all of us, without choosing--all of us are in the
political change business. All of us are in the optimism
business that you can build a democratic process where all
citizens have the opportunity to exercise their political right
and their human right to choose the leaders of their society.
And that change usually comes about in reaction to the two
extremes that you described the crony capitalism where the
wealth of the country is held by only a few and not shared with
the general society.
Mr. Clawson. And I am a Republican and that is wrong.
Just for the record.
Mr. Sweeney. I understand that, sir. I completely
understand that. And I think your own interest in this topic as
evidenced by you being here is a statement about your attitudes
toward these two extremes, the one being where the country is
being--the wealth and the power is being held by a few to the
exclusion of the demands and ambitions of everyone else, or the
wealth and the power is so distributed in such a way that no
one has any opportunity and ambitions are frustrated. That then
results in a consensus for change and all of us have been
involved in some ways who deal with political parties or with
civil societies or with public institutions and then making
that process of change peaceful and legitimate and accountable
and transparent and free and fair and that is a challenge of
civil society. That is a challenge for political parties. That
is a challenge to the news media. That is a challenge to the
judiciary. And in my case, that is a challenge to the public
servants who are trying to stage the election and make sure
that everyone's vote is cast and counted in a completely
transparent and professional fashion to the satisfaction of all
other elements.
Mr. Clawson [presiding]. Can I finish in your absence? If
you need to go, go. You all don't mind staying another minute?
Half the room is going to leave right now, but go ahead,
continue. What you are saying is, well, go ahead, either of the
other two that haven't spoken have anything to add to that?
Ms. Birkle. Well, I would just add and thank you for the
thoughtful question. We recognize very much that there are
limited resources that we have to do our work overseas. And
each of our organizations needs to be very strategic about
where we choose to work because there are limited resources.
And then also to point out that we really do view nations as a
process. And they are only one very important stage of the
democratic development process. And while we are talking about
elections today, there is a whole host of work that we will do
throughout the course of an election cycle to encourage citizen
engagement and citizen questioning of their elected officials,
and programs that encourage citizens to hold their elected
officials accountable and to engage during campaigns and closer
to elections through debates, for example, or other outreach
programs. So citizens start to really understand the issues
matter to them and that their vote is going to matter
ultimately on how they are governed and how that will impact
their life.
Mr. Merloe. As I was reflecting, sir, on your question and
I have had the honor of sitting with former President George W.
Bush as he was setting up the Bush Institute. And I have had
the honor of sitting with President Carter and talking about
these kinds of things. It is not a question of what political
point of view you have from this country. I think you are
right. There is an interrelationship on many of these points.
What really we are talking about is human dignity and
people want human dignity. They want some control over what
happens to their lives. They don't want to be exploited one way
or the other, whether it is a one-party state or whether it is
a military dictatorship.
And in a sense, I agree with my colleagues that have been
in the private sector, though I have been in this work for some
years. You have to be strategic. You want your energies to
create something that is valuable so that you feel that it has
been a good use of your time and efforts.
There are countries where there are minimal things that we
can do. There are nonetheless people in those countries who
want dignity and want some kind of a representative government
rather than what they have got. And there are some ways of
working with them, remotely in small ways and so on. In other
places, you can see that there is an opportunity to help those
people take that next step. And when they ask you to do that,
it is an honor to be able to help them out in the process. I am
trying to get at the essence of what I thought was your
question. It is a marathon.
Yesterday, we met at NDI, and I am sure my colleagues and
some people on the Hill met with, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai, a
former Prime Minister of Zimbabwe who has been trying to get
into government there. And part of what he said is this is a
marathon: ``We may be coming to the last 5 miles. That is when
you need support the most.'' And so there really is a
challenge, country by country as to what you might be able to
do that is helpful.
Mr. Clawson. Even after hearing you speak, I think
governance, freedom, and economic growth are all tied together.
There are great models of economic growth that ignore human
rights, human dignity, and have governance by a small amount of
people. And as I watch Africa develop, I am always worried that
that model could be adopted if the correct crony capitalistic
model that puts all the wealth in very little hands and the
governance as well causes folks or causes the military or some
other entity. And so anything I can do to help, I mean I am
just a Congressman, right? But anything I can do to help I am
all for what you are doing. I think it is a big deal.
I hope that, if anything, my few comments today help you
think about how to be selective about which countries and where
the ground is most fertile to spend these kind of dollars in
your own effort.
And the other thing I guess I would say is the people out
there doing this on the ground, that is not easy work, right,
under very difficult circumstances. And so, if you will pass
along my compliments in that regard, these are folks that have
foregone creature comforts and other things to do difficult
things in difficult environments. It is always easy in DC for
us to forget that, right? It is easy to criticize those that
are working hard for the benefit of their fellow men and women.
So if you will pass that along for me, I am done with my little
comments today and appreciate everything you all are doing. And
I will gavel it out, right? The subcommittee is adjourned,
right? This is the first I have ever got to do this, you all.
[Whereupon, at 12:06 p.m., the subcommittee adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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