Election 2009: Informed decisions

by Editor · April 15, 2009

If the Catholic Church could design its own perfect political party, it would be led by people whose only motivation in entering public administration would be to serve. It would be free of corruption, and employ the highest standards of ethics, cutting no dubious political deals to advance its agenda. It would protect and defend democracy and its institutions from undue interference and ethical contamination.

Such a party would be solidly pro-family and pro-life � not only on abortion, but also on euthanasia and capital punishment. It would place a priority on social justice, working for the welfare of the most vulnerable in society and, indeed, the world. It would exercise the Catholic Church�s preferential option for the poor over the excessive procurement of armaments, and it would resolutely oppose elective military action. It would engage itself for human rights everywhere in the world, working in solidarity with the disenfranchised and oppressed.

Such a party would seek to protect God�s creation by insisting on the implementation of sensible legislation and policies. It would punish, without fear or favour, those who break laws when they poison water, air or land. It would promote respect for one another, even for its opponents. It would welcome dialogue, and be ideologically flexible to always effect the greater good.

And it would accomplish all this without compromising its obligations to the electorate, even though not all of them Catholic.

Such a political entity, of course, does not exist. Even the Italian party which for decades enjoyed the favour of successive popes, the Christian Democrats, was far from meeting these criteria, and eventually collapsed under the weight of its own endemic corruption.

Such a party probably would not even get elected � if there was a chance of ethically pure parties being elected, then they would exist � or even receive sufficient funding to present itself to the electorate. And such a party would likely soon fall prey to the human temptation to sin.

On April 22, our first obligation as South African Catholics will be to vote. Those who surrender their right to vote also forfeit the moral licence to state their possible disillusionment with the country�s political leadership. Those who hold that there is no party deserving of their vote could exercise their democratic conscience by casting their ballot for a small party, so diluting the percentage of undeserving parties, or by spoiling their ballots (these are recorded).

Our second responsibility is to identify which party, in policy and conduct, reflects most the aspirations of the Catholic Church, mindful that none meets all the criteria of Church teachings.

In that particular choice, the Church cannot decide for the voter. The bishops of Southern Africa � unlike their counterparts in some countries � have wisely kept out of partisan politics. While they comment on pertinent issues to offer moral guidance � to politicians and the faithful alike � they do not recommend one party over another. The bishops� only instruction is that Catholic voters should make an informed decision for the benefit of greater good. How the Catholic ballots falls will depend on the individual�s own views of which party is best equipped to lead South Africa and its provinces.

For some, the sole criterion will be a party�s position on abortion. Other Catholics will consider other issues, including those on which the teachings of the Catholic Church have no direct impact before casting their ballot.

Voting on the basis of life issues alone is not illegitimate, as the bishops have acknowleged, but Catholics should consider also other policy areas, to reach an informed decision before making their cross in the box next to the name of their favoured political party.