We in North America are in the midst of two national campaigns. The USA's has been going on for almost two years now, and Canada's has been only going on since the end of August...or has it?
More below the fold.
Yesterday, I wrote a diary about the coup in South Africa and got slammed by a bunch of people who didn't know anything about South African politics or coups. This is partly about that and partly about something that has bugged the hell out of me for years, namely, complaints about the length of our presidential campaigns.
Well, some of these complaints are justified. Real financial reform was blocked because Chris Dodd was busy running for president, something he knew he had no chance at winning, instead of doing something really important, like passing Barney Frank's bill (which passed the 'do nothing" House sometime last year). The primary campaign took forever. There were debates as early as last summer (this summer ends tomarrow), and it went on and on and on until June. Meanwhile, or so it seems here, the Prime Minister of Canada decided out of the blue to have an election. It seemed that there were no politics going on until about a month ago. Not quite so.
In our system, we have to start from scratch every time, but in parliamentary systems, the nominees get to stay around and run again and again. For instance Ed Broadbent, the PM nominee of the Canadian New Democratic Party, ran in FOUR elections without winning one. The current leader, Jack Layton, has lost a similar number of times. Prime Minister Steve Harper ran in 2003 and LOST. The Neo-Conservative party (an amalgam of the old Tories and Reform) didn't have to elect a new nominee for PM, they just went on with Harper, hoping, successfully, it turned out, that he would win the next time.
The Canadian election process actually began over a year and a half ago when Former Prime Minister Paul Martin resigned. There were primaries of sorts, and a convention which went on for several ballots, Stephine Dion was elected, and he then took over as the official "Leader of the Opposition" which gets him a free house and limo and other perks. The Party Leader (PM nominee) gets to trade the votes of his caucus like checkers on a board. A century and a half ago, Gilbert and Sullivan wrote on this: "I thought so Little they rewarded me by making me the ruler of the Queen's Nah-vee!" "back benchers don't think, they do what they're told. It doesn't really work like that down here.
In parliamentary systems, the primaries are completely divorced from the general election and both are movable feasts. For instance, it's been less than three years since the last election. All sides have been preparing for it since the last one, even though parliament passed a law making elections officially scheduled once every four years (it was supposed to take place in December of '09).
It is very difficult to get rid of an incumbent President or Prime Minister without an election. In Canada, it only happened once, when the Liberal caucus, having elected a new leader, forced Prime Minister Jean Cretiån to resign. It was a bit of a coup, but a democratic one.
In Canada Great Britain and other countries which have the "Westminster system" the Legislature elects the executive, and general elections are a movable feast, but other countries are different, and have the executive and legislature elected separately. The USA comes to mind first, but South Africa is a similar system.
South Africa changed from a Parliamentary system to a presidential one in 1984, and since then, executive power has been separate from the Legislative branch. The President of South Africa is elected by the people for a term of five years. He is the boss of the party, and not the other way around. The ANC nominated Jacob Zuma as it's candidate for President in the 2009 elections TWO years early. What does he do for all that time?
It's complicated. However, there is NO Prime Minister of South Africa and there hasn't been one in 24 years.
Interestingly, enough, the next in line is deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, an enemy of Zuma, and how Zuma is supposed to become president NOW is a constitutional question I cannot answer.
In the meantime, the first debate here is on friday, and Canada's PM debate is over the weekend sometime.
It's all very interesting.