LAHORE: When elected holders of public office assume unto themselves the powers of kings and emperors, then democracy becomes the first casualty. This has been the case not only with those who are presently in power but also their predecessors. The mere holding of an election does not mean that the country has become democratic and election to public office should not give any legitimacy to transgressions of authority by those in power.
Democracy in the words of John Adams, America’s second president, is a “government of laws and not of men”. He has also said that the “fundamental article of my political creed is that despotism, or unlimited sovereignty, or absolute power, is the same in a majority of a popular assembly, an aristocratic council, an oligarchical junta and a single emperor”. When an elected prime minister, president, chief minister or ministers are seen violating laws, making a mockery of the constitution and the judiciary, and when they consider themselves supreme or beyond accountability, then they lose the high moral ground of legitimacy required to hold such an office. Holders of elected office derive their powers and mandate from the constitution, whereas dictators derive this through the use of brute force or threat of intimidation.
Furthermore, if an elected government faces a threat from within by a military adventurer, it is well within its rights to seek diplomatic support to strengthen itself, provided that such a government is in every essence democratic and transparent.
This country has suffered more at the hands of these dictators than at the hands of its elected leaders.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2011.
