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Posted on 01/11/2005 8:02:18 AM PST by Ooh-Ah
Minister-without-Portfolio Natan Sharansky rained on the nearly universal celebration over the Palestinian Authority election Sunday, saying it was not "truly free."
"Free elections can only take place in societies in which people are free to express their opinions without fear," Sharansky told The Jerusalem Post. "This is not the case in the Palestinian Authority."
He said that while it is likely that the hundreds of international observers who monitored the election will announce Monday that this was a free and open election, what they are really saying is that it was not plagued by fraud. But, he said, there is a difference.
"Imagine that these monitors would have come to the Soviet Union in times of elections under [Leonid] Brezhnev – there was no fraud there, either, but there was also no other candidate. Here, too, there was no other candidate. I don't think there was fraud, but it's not a free and democratic election, because a free and democratic election can only take place in free and democratic societies."
Sharansky said it is a "shame" that the world uses the same words for completely different types of processes in different governmental systems, thereby making moral equivalencies that don't exist.
"This election can be the beginning of the democratic process only if we don't have illusions that democracy is already there, and that all we have to do now is give them independence. If that is what we do, then we will find that we have given independence not to a democratic state, but to a terrorist state," he said. "That is an important trap not to fall into."
At the same time, Sharansky said, "It is important that these elections took place, because it important that the new leadership comes, or will come, not through violence. That can be the beginning of the process of democracy."
Palestinian society, despite Sunday's election, remains in Sharansky's view a "fear society."
"In a free society, every vote, every voice matters – and not only voice of hatred of Israel," he said. "And in free societies, you don't know the name of the winner weeks before the election. Free elections can only be in free society, in societies without fear."
WARNING: This is a high volume ping list
I'm so glad Sharansky is saying this. Every time I hear someone say that this was a "free and fair" election, I gag.
Same here. If there's one candidate and only one viewpoint allowed, its really not a free election.
He has a great new book that Bush has been passing out like candy.
Remember that liberals define the fairness of an election solely by the outcome. They liked Abbas, he won, therefore the election was fair. They're saying the same thing in Washington state about the governor's election, despite the fact that 8,400 more votes were cast than there were registered voters.
Right. Florida and Ohio were suspect and UN observers were asked for but the PA election of Abbas was flawless because the right guy one. Just like in Venezuela.
Sharansky ping
George ain't the only one.
FYI
The Case for Democracy
The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror
http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.943/event_detail.asp
Video and transcript
Takes about 2 hours.
Isn't this contradicting everything else he says in this interview?
Love your tag line!
But ... but ... but, how can this be? Why, just last night on CNN I heard Nobel Prize winner Jimmie Carter assuring everyone that the PA election was completely on the up-and-up.
At first, I thought the article was about Gov. Fast Eddie Rendell's 'poll inspectors' and Philly wards with 110% of the population registered to vote.
Come to thing of it, there's not a whole lot of difference between the Gaza Strip and some North Philly/West Philly neighborhoods.
Wasn't there a story a few weeks ago about Palestinian journalists getting beaten up and that PA owned newspapers have the largest circulation...
Freedom of the press needs to be free for the election to be free.
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Just ask Jimmy Carter.
LOL, yup, sure.
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