Democracy at Work

I believe in democracy. That is to say, I believe in it more than any other form of governance. A good democracy, well it should do several things. It should accurately represent the will of the people, but not at the expense of the minority. It should check its own power. Similarly, and I think many of us have forgotten this, a democracy must have the ability to reinvent itself when something is not working properly, or when one individual has gained excessive power and is attempting to change the system for his or her own gain. Many are viewing the coup in Niger, and the previous one in Honduras as democracy failing, but I consider them both rousing successes.

It is true that in times of great adversity, single individuals must sometimes rise to the occasion, commanding more power than is usually wise for one person to wield. Even in the great pillar states of democracy, such figures are sometime necessary, and here I would be referring to Lincoln and F.D.R. The large majority of the time however, the president must be expected to work within the framework of his nation's laws, and when they inevitably don't, it is the job of the nation to be rid of him. No second chances.

Take former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. Last summer, he attempted to hold a poll which would determine if there would be a referendum to change the constitution of that country, something that the supreme court had already ruled against. The proposed constitutional changes would include the elimination of a term limit for president. What a surprise! Wisely, the supreme court ordered the military to have Zelaya removed from office, making Speaker of Congress Robert Micheletti interim president. A couple of months later, the government held the next previously scheduled elections without incident. This situation couldn't have been handled in a better way, and I applaud those in the Honduran government who recognized the danger that the integrity of their democracy was in, and acted to correct it. Many foreign governments opposed the coup, and refuse to recognize the outcome of the latest election, and this frustrates me to no end. The precedent must be set that when a leader attempts to change the constitution and increase his own power, there is no tolerance for such actions.

This latest coup in Niger is also, so far, a victory for democracy. Mamadou Tandja, former president (since the 18th of this month), succeeded in dissolving the National Assembly of Niger, which allowed him to alter the constitution, lengthening his tenure in office and expanding his powers. His stance was that the people of Niger wanted him to remain in office, and there were important programs in the works that needed his guidance. My thought on that is, too bad. The rules are the rules, and he himself was voted into office in a fair election after a coup in 1999. The time had come for another fair election, but he was unwilling to give up the throne. That is just about when the newly formed (like that very day) Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy stepped in and ousted Tandja. They claim that there will be a speedy return to democracy, with fresh elections pending, but a timetable has yet to be released. I sincerely hope that these elections will be held soon, because it will demonstrate for the world one of the key functions of a government, run by the people, at work.

So, as I stated before, despite some viewing these coups as failures of democracy, I firmly believe that they are rather saviors of the democratic values set forth in both of these countries' respective constitutions. Every despot starts somewhere, and if they are cut of at the start, they can have no future. Most dictators don't seize power overnight. It is a slow process, during which they take a little bit here, and a little bit there, until eventually they are wielding far more power than was ever intended. Although I would rather see these acts of necessity put into use with other, more bold and overstepping figures (Putin, Chavez, Mugabe, Ahmadinejad, to name a few), these recent oustings are encouraging nonetheless.