Political scientists, on Thursday, reacted to the just concluded electoral process in the United States of America (USA), saying it has proven that there is no democracy in the world without a storm.
However, they said America was able to weather the storm with its “strong institutions.”
Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Ilorin, Emmanuel Ojo, said the invasion of the US Capitol Hill where Joe Biden’s victory was being affirmed has shown that politicians all over the world are the same irrespective of the country.
“Donald Trump has demonstrated that he is a politician and not a statesman,” he said, adding, “You see all over the world, politicians are the same.
“The system does not matter to politicians.
“The system does not matter to politicians but rather their personal ambition.
“Despite the age of democracy in the US, the US democratic system has that challenge because the system threw up a character like Donald Trump ab initio who has not shown that he is a gentleman in any way.”
According to Ojo, the US would however emerge stronger as its institution has taken care of the temporary challenge.
“I want to believe that America will get out stronger because it has stronger institutions.
“The day Donald Trump is supposed to hand over, if he refuses to leave the White House, the security apparatus will abandon him unlike this place where Inspector General of Police is reporting to Mr President and obeying Mr President blindly and sheepishly, you don’t have that in America,” he added.
Also speaking, Prof. Sylvester Odion of the Lagos State University (LASU) said the scenario that played out before the final confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory was “shameful” and a dent on American democracy which the Americans hold very dearly.
He said no democracy is free from crisis.
However, he said the system in the US cannot be compared with Nigeria’s because according to him, “US has settled institutions.
“You can see that they are talking about invoking the 25th amendment to remove the President.
“Those are the issues. When people start to compare them with Nigeria and other places, it is a big mistake.
“There is nothing like democracy where there is no storm but the most important is whether you have institutions that can weather that storm and institutions in America have risen to the occasion,” he said.
Odion also hailed the US electoral college system, noting that despite the criticism of the system, it is still the best as it allows all units of the federation in the US to have a say in the election of the President.
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