Re: What is democracy?
Muslim societies’ basic understanding of democracy doesn’t go beyond periodic electoral exercise. What happens before, during and after that electoral exercise doesn’t matter. Democracy begins and finishes on elections day.
No wonder likes of Saddam, Assad, Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak, Zia, Nawaz Sharif, Hasina Wajid were/are able to abuse their countries with impunity because they got the ‘votes’.
The concept of sanctity of vote became the cornerstone of modern Western democracies, in Pakistan I dare you to educate an educated person that it is irresponsible and dangerously undemocratic to justify or at least, trivlise electoral rigging.
I’ve had great ‘democrats’ telling me how rigging is part of the system, and any investigation or reform to call for free and fair elections is a threat to democracy.