The Kleptocract and the "democractic" dictator

No this is not a bad musical or the name of a Lollywood movie (but, I guess it could be either one), it is a nice way to reference the happenings in Pakistan.

I think Jemima Goldsmith's (former wife of former cricketer Imran Khan) reference to Benazir Bhutto is the most apt one I have heard. She called her "kleptocract with hermes scarf". It is interesting to see how low the doyens of democracy (US and UK) will swoop to keep their interests. Anyone who thinks Benazir Bhutto will transition Pakistan to a liberal democracy is smoking the stuff that democracy brought to Afghanistan. Just because someone talks in English, got educated in the West and wears western clothes do not make them democratic. And, while US made all the right noises about imposition of emergency in Pakistan it was clear who had whose balls. Soon, the cat was out of the bag - Mush had told Bush about his plans to impose emergency.

How can you have democracy in a country where all democratic institutions have been suspended? And, how can a country be liberal when majority want it to be aligned to a particular religion (if not, a religious state). How can you have a democratic government when at least one legitimate (or, equally legitimate) leader sits in exile in Saudi Arabia? And, can a nation that was formed "because people of a certain religion need a separate state that encompasses their religious majority areas" ever be secural?

I think the Pakistani ambassador was onto something when he said "different nations have different paths to democracy." I guess what he failed to add was "and, some nations do not want to be on the path to democracy." A quick scan of the newgroups and message boards is enough to realize that people in Pakistan are bit cynical about democracy and Mush is more popular than Bush (in their respective countries). You can't blame the people - when democratically elected leaders use the state treasury as their private privy purse (which is the bane of all of south asia) people turn to less corrupt authoritarian heads. In Pakistan it seems the folks who are in the minds of the people are Mush, Mullahs and the madam (probably in that order).

Here is my personal test for "secular" democracies - which are the nations where the religious minorities have increased their population compared to the religious majority since the nation's independence? I think I know the answer for this one in South Asia.