Sometimes, when a country is going through a lot of change, leaders of one group will call for a boycott of the election. Usually, it’s a group that is expected to lose. In Iraq, it was Sunni politicos calling for the boycott. In some areas, voters were apparently following the boycott. In other areas of the Sunni section, polling places ran out of ballots.
I’ve never understood this tactic. What possible good can come from asking your followers to turn their backs on the election? If your people stay home, the numbers will show your party to be even less powerful than it is. Has anyone ever gained by boycotting an election?
Those boycotting the election can claim the government in power does not have a mandate to do whatever it is they are doing. If they participate in the election and do not get any sizeable representation for their views then those in power might say to hell with their opponent’s positions as the public spoke and proved to largely disagree with them.
In many cases the reason for a boycott is simply to drive the point home that your group (ethnic, cultural, religious, whatever) is profoundly alienated from the government, and if the government wants stability it had better take steps to change that fact.
Well, I understand it a little better now. That still leaves the other question: Has it ever helped the boycotters? I can’t think of anyplace where the boycotters gained the respect they wanted.