A chara, – I would like to commiserate with the Irish media and numerous politicians as those inconsiderate so-and-sos in the ANC have scuppered their attempts to sideline Gerry Adams and downplay his relationship with the late Nelson Mandela. Bad luck, but you can still bury your heads back in the sand and continue to misrepresent history. – Is mise,
AODHAGÁN Mac COITIR,
Clós Bhaile na nGabhar,
Baile na nGabhar,
Baile Átha Cliath 14.
Sir, – I am deeply gratified that the South Africans have acknowledged the longstanding links between the ANC and the IRA. However, I am puzzled by their choice of representative at the Nelson Mandela funeral. They seem to have invited a man who was never a member of the IRA. – Yours, etc,
SEAMUS GALLEN,
Erris Square,
Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.
Sir, – Before Nelson Mandela took an active role in politics, he wrote, "Meetings would continue until some kind of consensus was reached. Democracy meant all were to be heard. Majority rule was a foreign notion." The same was true throughout sub-Saharan Africa, as exemplified by the Swahili, Kinyarwanda and French African words: "baraza", "gacaca" and "palabre". Later, on retiring at the final sitting of South Africa's first democratic parliament, he said, "out of any debate . . . there should be no winners or losers."
Majority voting, then, was and still is inadequate.
As we now lay Madiba to rest, many are the calls to honour his legacy. To play our part, be it in the Dáil or in referendums, can we please stop using this divisive voting procedure, the most inaccurate measure of collective opinion ever invented?
A classic example was the recent ballot on the Seanad, with some voting No because they wanted to keep it as is, and others because they wanted reform. If the debate is multi-optional, then so too should be the ballot – as in New Zealand in 1992 – whereupon the outcome should be the option with the highest average preference, an African outcome . . . while the words “majority” and “minority” fade from the political lexicon. – Yours, etc,
PETER EMERSON,
Director,
The de Borda Institute,
Ballysillan Road, Belfast.