Why the rush to concede election raises eyebrows

What you need to know:

  • There is something fishy about the rush to concede. Besides, it is, ideally, the runner-up who should do so.
  • A hasty admission of defeat also amounts to a betrayal of supporters, who put their all into the campaign for the candidate.
  • It will be interesting to know whether those prematurely conceding the election will have consulted with their sponsoring parties.


An interesting development in this year’s elections is the speedy manner in which some losing candidates have been conceding defeat.

A few then go on to heap praise on the winners, declared or perceived, which raises eyebrows, especially after a bitterly fought poll.

If the losers are genuine, this should be lauded as an example of a growing democracy.

It shows that people will compete but ultimately accept the results, shake hands and wait to fight another day.

That also confirms that the elections have been transparent and the winners deserved the victory.

However, some of those who have publicly acknowledged their defeat has also grumbled about alleged malpractices, including poll rigging, by their rivals.

In that case, they should not concede as that implies that they lost fairly.

Something fishy

Anybody with a complaint about the conduct of the elections should seek legal redress and not instigate violence through the media.

They should collect and collate evidence of wrongdoing and file it in court, seeking to have the results nullified.

There is something fishy about the rush to concede. Besides, it is, ideally, the runner-up who should do so—but once the winner has been declared—and not every other candidate.

A hasty admission of defeat also amounts to a betrayal of supporters, who put their all into the campaign for the candidate.

The culture of conceding defeat in elections should be nurtured.

It will save resources that would have been expended on election disputes even when a candidate is fairly and squarely defeated.

Genuinely conceding defeat lowers the political temperatures and enables quicker assumption of office.

But it shouldn’t be motivated by self-gain, such as bribery, or arrived at through intimidation or coercion by some quarters.

It will be interesting to know whether those prematurely conceding the election will have consulted with their sponsoring parties or if these are personal spur-of-the-moment decisions.