Liberal Democracy Will No Longer Work For Us – Obasanjo Speaks On Coup

Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo has said that it is impossible for liberal democracy to work in Africa.

Obasanjo stated this during an interview with The Cable.

When asked his opinion on the reason for the increasing coups in Africa, the former nation’s leader stated that the liberal democracy Africa was copying from the West could no longer serve the continent.

He insisted that it was time for leaders to come together and come up with a new system.

Obasanjo pointed out that out of the six countries that have experienced coups, three of them are directly from elections.

“I was the one who in 1999 advocated that if you are not a government backed by the constitution, you should be suspended from the African Union, and these chaps don’t even mind any suspension.

So we have a situation where we have a continent where we have to rethink democracy. The liberal democracy we are copying from settled societies in the West won’t work for us,” he added.

When asked what type of democracy would work, he replied, “I don’t know. But we have seen that the liberal type of democracy as practised in the West will not work for us. We have to put our heads together.

“You have to put your heads together to fashion it out. You can give it any name. But we have seen that this is not working. Out of the six countries that have experienced coups, three of them are directly from elections. Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, and Gabon that we have just had are directly from elections. The other three are indirect, if you like.”