WASHINGTON (JTA) – Natan Sharansky said US President George W. Bush’s policy of democratization has failed because Bush is rushing tyrannies to elections.
Bush repeatedly has cited Sharansky, a former Prisoner of Zion and former Israeli cabinet minister, in touting democratic reforms in the Arab world.
“Despite what I believe to be the president’s genuine commitment to promote sweeping change, the policy shift hasn’t matched the rhetoric, with one glaring exception: an intense focus on holding elections everywhere as quickly as possible,” Sharansky wrote last week in the Los Angeles Times.
“This has been a mistake because, although elections are part of the democratic process, they are never a substitute for it.”
One result of the policy, Sharansky said, was the victory of Hamas, a terrorist group, in Jan. 25 Palestinian Authority legislative elections.
Instead of rushing elections, he said, the focus should be on building and protecting a free society.
“The recent election of Hamas is the fruit of a policy that focused on the form of democracy rather than its substance,” he said.
Index | Letters to the Editor | Main Page | Op Ed | Photos
Send Letters To The Editor:
editor@jewishtribune.ca
This site hosted by:
vex.net
