democracy

The power of the 'little man' in democracy

A comment made by Sir Winston Churchill more than seven decades ago beautifully sums up the importance of voters in democracy: “At the bottom of all tributes paid to democracy is the little man, walking into a little booth, with a little pencil, making a little cross on a little bit of paper—no amount of rhetoric or voluminous discussion can possibly diminish the overwhelming importance of that point.”
20 October 2018

How are we doing — as human beings?

It is one of the biggest paradoxes of present time — the contradiction of having the most remarkable advancements in technology with the most regressive developments in human civilisation.
9 September 2018

Mexican polls: The other soul

Democracy is, by far, the most acclaimed historical form of government. It not only allows representation of all groups, but also permits every adult to exercise complete sovereignty at the polling booth. There might be nuances and variances here or there, particularly in the preceding campaigns and subsequent outcomes, but we have, by and large, managed to live with our differences, converse with adversaries, and bite the bullet so democracy strengthens itself.
3 July 2018

To win election, seek only people's endorsement

When we are told by our leaders that democracy is in firm ground, maybe a dispassionate look at the matter is in order. The best that one can describe the prevailing democracy is by labelling it as a command democracy displaying monocratic tendencies. It would be hard also to disagree with anyone who chooses to define the present system as one run by a single party.
20 June 2018

Forster's third democratic cheer: Mahathir (as a symbol)?

EM Forster, almost a lone-wolf democracy crusader between the two world wars, confronted as unpalatable a European playground as many African, Asian, and Latin American countries striving to convince others of their democratic claims face today: an uphill battle in which the institutionalised forces against democracy, such as extreme rightists/leftists and militarism, were usually at least as strong as those
22 May 2018

Iraq holds first nationwide election since IS defeat

Iraq began voting Saturday in its first parliamentary election since declaring victory over the Islamic State (IS) group, with the country hoping to shore up a fragile peace and rebuild.
12 May 2018

Malaysians vote in cliffhanger election as politicians say phones jammed

Malaysian politicians from both government and opposition camps complains of "dirty tricks" after voting in a general election begins on Wednesday, as non-stop spam calls to their mobile phones disruptes communications with party organisers.
9 May 2018

Polls open in Lebanon's first general election in 9yrs

Polling booths open in Lebanon today for the country's first parliamentary election in nine years, a period marked by stretches of political paralysis and war in neighbouring Syria.
6 May 2018

Democracy 'in danger'

The BNP yesterday presented a “grim picture of the country's democracy” before around a dozen foreign diplomats in Dhaka.
21 March 2018

'In a democracy, you must learn to tolerate'

The above quote is a strong and clear manifestation of the Indian Supreme Court's endeavour to protect rights of the media as it recently announced that freedom of speech and expression of the media must be allowed to the fullest and the press may not be hauled up for defamation for “some errors” in its reporting.
4 March 2018

The democracy vs development debate

A dichotomy can be defined as the presence of two alternatives that are jointly exhaustive (only these two alternatives, and no more than these two, exist) and mutually exclusive (the existence of each alternative excludes the other).
21 November 2017

Putting democracy at the heart of our common future

The theme of the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)—“Towards a Common Future”—was announced recently by British Prime Minister Theresa May on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly Meeting in New York.
3 November 2017

News Analysis: An inconceivable resolution by JS

This is inconceivable in modern democracy that the parliament passes a resolution to nullify a supreme court verdict. But our Parliament unanimously did it on Wednesday, setting a unique example.
15 September 2017

Putting democracy above the bottom line

Democracy advocates in civil society and government have managed to push back against global corporations, but much of their progress hangs in the balance this month.
4 November 2016

Cap-Dem-Rel

Capitalism prioritses policies that promote efficiency in resource allocation, while democracy espouses ideas of equality and fairness.
29 July 2016

Militancy rises due to govt’s ‘intolerable acts’: Khaleda

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia says extremists and militants are raising their heads in the country due to undemocratic and intolerable acts of the government.
25 June 2016

Illiberal Democracy or Undemocratic Liberalism?

It is hardly surprising, then, that citizens on both sides of the Atlantic feel that they are no longer masters of their political fate. For all intents and purposes, they now live under a regime that is liberal, yet undemocratic: a system in which their rights are mostly respected but their political preferences are routinely ignored.
12 June 2016

If our democracy could talk, what would it say?

When people resist what the government would like to wholesale, impose, or force-feed as “development”, democracy seems quite at ease to quell people's resistances, violate pledges and dismiss the age-old demands of the adivasi communities.
1 June 2016

UP elections getting incrementally deadly

Even the chief election commissioner (CEC) has admitted that violence has escalated in the fifth phase of the elections.
29 May 2016

BNP turns down allegation of ‘plot to topple govt’

The top leaders of BNP turn down the government’s allegation that the party is conspiring with Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to topple the government.
16 May 2016