At this particular juncture in time, there are three different ideas on the interpretation of the word. The first: democracy is only democracy if you vote for the government we want you to have. The second: democracy only works if I'm in charge. The third: democracy is about betrayal by your favourite MPs.
Can you guess which countries I'm talking about? Yes. No. Maybe?
Number one is Palestine. The EU and American governments cannot accept that the Palestinian people voted for Hamas, a group that has been indicted on terrorism, and yet has had the fortitude to support its people with money, food, law, order, water, electricity... everything that a people need to survive regardless of Israeli oppression. The Fatah government was a corrupt, milquetoast, spineless authority legitimised by outsiders willing to bribe them for their own ends; yet that was the prefered government. The European Union and U.S. governments have seen fit to stop all aid to the Palestinians until the people vote in a government that is acceptable: without giving Hamas the opportunity to govern; all because of past grievances. Excuse me, but that's not democracy, that's tyranny. It's manipulation of the wrong kind and if anyone thinks that by applying this sort of pressure will convince the Palestinians to vote someone else in (approved by the EU and US, no doubt), they are blind, ignorant, and do not understand Middle-Eastern politics in the slightest.
Number two is Italy. Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is still refusing to admit defeat even though the Italian Supreme Court has confirmed Romano Prodi's win. Berlusconi is accusing the opposition of vote rigging, flawed counting procedures and problems with the overseas vote. (I have to say I was surprised to learn that an Australian has been voted in to the Italian Parliament.) Mr Berlusconi is considering further legal action. Which is a joke considering this is a man who was able to pass laws to stop any legal action being taken against himself for corrupt business and government dealings. Does anyone understand Italian politics?
Number three is the Solomon Islands. Today, the Prime Minister-elect, Snyder Rini, was sworn into office in a secret ceremony. Secret because the locals were rioting over their Members of Parliament choice of Rini. A number of Australian Police were injured during the rioting and we've sent, along with New Zealand, more troops and police to restore order. International observers declared the elections 'free and fair', but Rini has been accused of being corrupt and taking bribes. The main accusation, that he's been taking money from Chinese interests, resulted in Chinese businesses being targetted by the rioters. Allegedly, it is Taiwanese money and was not given to Rini, but to business concerns.
Three different attitudes towards democracy, all of them destablising, and all of them unnecessary. No foreign country or organisation has the right to dictate what type of government a nation has. No one person has the right to stop the workings of a government because his ego's been bruised. No minority has the right to take out their frustrations on an ethnic group or peace keepers in a violent manner because of an unproven 'allegation'.
In a dictatorship, none of this would happen. To put them into a school setting rather than a geopolitical one, the big boys (the EU and US) don't want to play with the poor, feisty little one (Palestine) because he slapped their friend (Israel) next door for beating him up and stealing from him; Berlusconi lost the game of marbles and is accusing the winner of cheating; and some Islanders are pissed because Rini got more from the tuckshop than they thought fair, regardless of where the proceeds might go and who it might help.
This is what happens when you have democracies running around the playground, making friends or enemies, getting into fights, bullying...
Maybe the boys should step aside and let the girls take over. No fights, just a lot of bitching and preening.
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