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Protests are part of democracy
Protest must be looked upon as a robust feature of any democracy, including those ones still groping toward a healthier manifestation and more vibrant expression of its freedoms at work.
Governments under duress are expected, if not demanded, to pursue continuous improvement of standards and tolerances; to adhere to high ideals when confrontations push patience; and to maintain composure when developments threaten the norms of civil and social calm.
Undoubtedly, the world over the protesting is not known to adhere to the high standards to which the state must be committed. Right up front, it must be said that whatever the rationales or underpinnings, protest is a right. It is part freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom to challenge those situations that harbour ill for the quality of democracy, indeed quality of existence.
In true democracies, these freedoms rise to the level of the sacred. They must not be interfered with; or curtailed to such an extent that objectives are so severely impaired and impacted that any political or social protesting presences are rendered invisible to the point of impotency.
Though not to be interfered with, the state still has a responsibility to manage the overall environment and maintain acceptable minimums in the commerce of everyday activity. This is nonnegotiable. The rights of the protesting have to be balanced against the rights and welfare of the wider public.
There is this delicate balance of monitoring and managing, on the one hand, versus giving as wide a latitude as possible for those dissenting to operate, on the other.
The protesting must exercise any and all rights carefully and thoughtfully, while seeking to gain maximum leverage and volume for their messages. Parliament provides a powerful forum. No one expects the protesting to be polite, for as one radical long ago took the opportunity to remind: the polite usually have little to show for their restraint.
But restrained they must be. For with the special right to protest comes more than a few responsibilities. Amidst the right to apply pressure at sensitive pressure points, and maximizing attention on the ongoing governance disputes, there are the responsibilities to conduct protesting and picketing exercises in a peaceful and orderly manner; to maintain discipline and decorum in keeping with stated objectives; to appreciate the static vulnerable nature of businesses and that livelihoods depend on underlying commerce (whether sympathetic or hostile to political position); and to respect the rights of others to traverse the same spaces freely and without fear.
In terms of the latter, rumours and reports (all supposedly confirmed by a savvy street) speak of recruitment of paid protestors from the more economically depressed areas to add weight and colour to the political passions and energies patrolling the pavements and thoroughfares; and to introduce elements of ethnic violence for purposes of tensions, fear, and electoral turnout and success.
Any passing foray into the elections history of this country is sure to reveal that intimidation, tension, and upheaval have all been sturdy presences in those low and raw times of what is argued to be a democratic process.
In the final reviewing, it really does not matter which group is behind any such nefarious orchestration, and for whatever objectives. The racial, political, and social divides not only grow sharper, they also bare more scars on the outside while housing deeper wounds on the inside.
Thus, the stage is set for the next cycle of voting; the next lifetime of unyielding animosities. Protest is a right; but only when done right.
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