Don’t sneer at Afghanistan’s wind of change
In divorce courts, there may be truth in the cliché that if both sides are unhappy, then it must be a fair settlement. Elections are a different matter: the outcome must be perceived to be fair. When the candidates start crying foul even before voting is over — and when they have plenty to cry foul about — it means democracy in danger, not democracy at work.
After last week’s violent, tainted and chaotic first round of presidential and local elections, Afghanistan is at such a point; and democracy is its bulwark against a relapse into the bloodletting and destruction of the Nineties.… Seguir leyendo »