Democracy or .....

When I was in school, I was taught that Democracy is ‘the government of the people, by the people, for the people’

The Thesaurus defines it as ‘a system of choosing a government by voting. A system of government in which people vote in elections to choose the people who will govern them’

The general consensus here is that the people of a country make a decision (through free and fair voting and elections) on who will govern them. Every vote is counted and it is this collection of all the votes that forms the decision.

So what happens when a country that preaches democracy, goes against what it preaches?

What happens when a selection of individuals refuse to accept the results of democratically carried out elections?

What makes ethnic groups (within the same country) fight one another over who holds dominance in the nation?

What happens when robbers loot under the cover of the mayhem, chaos and confusion?

What happens when people are getting killed because some others are unwilling to accept the results of the democratic elections and are mischievously wreaking havoc?

What happens when precious man-hours (and potential earnings) are being lost because of the unstable situation in the nation?

The people came out to vote, believing their voices will be heard and honoured.
Leadership of a country is not a birthright, belonging to a specific geographic area of the nation. Rather, in democratic countries, leadership of a country is determined by the votes of the people. Not one person’s personal wishes or personal dreams, rather a collection of all the votes – thus, reflecting a national standpoint. If a democracy didn’t exist, then we would have a dictatorship.

A lot of time is being wasted through these internal squabbles over dominance. This, in turn, is hindering the growth of the country. United we stand, divided we fall. We are unable to grow, because we continue to bicker and disagree over who should steer the ship.

Please stop the fighting and focus on growth. Too much water has gone under the bridge, too many years have been wasted, too many lives lost in these disputes.

A lot more can be achieved if we all work together.
Schools, hospitals and roads need to be built. Basic amenities (electricity, water) need to be provided. Children need to be raised in a nation without fear of robbers or robbery. Safe, comfortable transportation needs to be provided. Jobs (that do not rely solely on the one natural resource - petroleum) need to be created.

The time to make the change is NOW, before we are left with no-one to rule....