Another meaningless election

Why all the teeth gnashing about this one man show. Most countries don't have meaningful elections including a number in NATO. Britains elections were twaddle de and twaddle dum, no significant policy has changed. The only reason for most elections is to move the trough feeding politicos from one tit to another.

Tunisia is depressing. Corniches in tourist resorts shampooed every night for tourists and foreign investors while ordinary Tunisians live in badly run municipalities. Rubbish, waste water, and cows are common scenes on the streets of even the main cities.

Tunisians are sophisticated and most educated young professional succeed well abroad. But they have to go abroad to succeed.

The concept of ruling families with power to the extent Mrs Ben Ali has is relatively new in the country. People are disgusted but powerless.

The regime is a paternalistic dictatorship based on a party that has been corrupt since the country's independence. It is more of a network of interests than a proper political party.

As a result, it controls administration and civil society and survival of the ruling party is linked to that of the ruling families.

Moderates and liberals have made a wrong calculation. They are horrified of the spread of bearded young men and covered young women. They see the influence of islamisation as a threat to the Civil Code (civil law based mainly on secular principles and protecting gender equality). However, they do not realise that beards and scarves are a way of political expression rather than fundamental convection. They are exacerbating the problem.

Be assured that the constitution will be amended to allow Ben Ali to run posthumously. The game in the Middle East is the following "claim to fight the Jihadists and you get the support and respect of western politicians".

“…the constitution will be amended to allow Ben Ali to run posthumously”.

This sounds like a joke, but it is surprising how much truth it embeds. Long-serving presidents of many countries (Egypt, Gabon, Libya, North Korea, Syria...) are leading, or will continue to lead, vicariously, through their descendants, after their death.

In other words, those countries are republics probably because it is fashionable to be so. In this democratic world, we are all republicans—with some notable exceptions…

The 4th and 5th paragraph described Tunisia in a quite good shape. Then what is the point of holding real democracy there? I think it is far better than the "democratic" Iraq and Afghanistan, or US and UK aka crumbling democracy-fighters. When you have a road to succeed, do not derail it.

Come to think of it, there are simply far too many meaningless if not senseless elections in most “self-styled” or “guided” democratic nations in the world, especially among the infant or newly independent ones.

Imagine the ugly practices that involve vote-buying, faked ballots, phantom voters, character assassinations and the like, one would wonder what is the point of having any election at all? Besides, would anyone call an election of just a single candidate a democratic election?

What about those elections when only 50% or less voters turn out to cast their ballots? Perhaps better not to have any election at all.
(tanboontee)