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KERİM BALCI k.balci@todayszaman.com Columnists

Revolutions of Democracy


Weak rings continue to be weak rings. Pumping participatory democracy into countries where liberal democracy is needed most is wrong. Although Akayev's intentions were not sincere, his words are true: Kyrgyzstan was not ready for that. Democratic institutions cannot be constructed with a public that has not yet internalized the main theories of democracy.

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The reality that the public showed their desire to overthrow the tyranny and degenerated regimes, which caused poverty in society, does not mean that they want and will nourish democracy.

The common traits of Iraq, Lebanon and Kyrgyzstan are handicaps that participatory democracy will face. These countries have to be ruled by either dictators or coalitions due to their demographic diversity. Coalition governments are the most difficult of the internalized institutions of participatory democracy. When Turkey attempted to build coalition governments with 50-years experience in participatory democracy, the consequences were disappointing. Ballot boxes turn into a "Pandora's Box" that continually produces problems in a country where some political institutions acceptance of "alternatives", recognizing the differences as a richness, respecting society and human rights; show a will to learn by creating dialogues that include these differences; the will to protect the rights of the minority, and the rule of law remain unsettled.

The view that democratic transformation is an urgent necessity in societies suffering from demographic disintegration is true; however, the chances of democratic institutions existing in the same societies are far less. If the recent Kyrgyzstan elections had been more corrupt, then Akayev's party would have gained the majority of seats in parliament; however, independent candidates gained the majority. This suggests political disintegration, which means "Ideological Lebanonism" according to political science terminology. If a country where right and left have not yet been formed, ethnic and tribal ties come before national ties and political parties have not yet been institutionalized going into the elections, what appears are the dozens of "individual parties' coalitions". The quarrels begin when such a government attempts to distribute the basic resources and seats and shakes the confidence of both its own citizens and the nations in the neighboring countries to the new democracy. The Iraqi public thinks that the bargaining that began following the elections has already exceeded the boundaries of "filth". If the Shiites had not moved according to the unification of the Ayatollah Sistani's spiritual authority, Iraq would also have faced chaos in the formation of the current government .If the Kurds had net been unified over Kerkuk (Kirkuk), the ballot boxes would have been filled with blood; however, neither the Ayatollah nor the desire to gain territory and oil are the theories and the institutions of democracy. Providing concessions on the principle of "being governed" almost completely on the process of transformation into democracy is an unacceptable mistake by those who come to the region as disciples of democracy.

Kyrgyzstan was a weak ring. The regime had no money to buy loyalty. They have no oil or pipelines; however; this country, where minority groups from 80 separate regions live; and where Russia, must continue to intervene due to the historical and demographic realities and because the culture of democracy had no chance of being internalized, will remain the weak link in democracy. The citizens of this region are on the point of preferring an effective dictatorship to an ineffective democracy.

March 28, 2005
London

28 March 2005, Monday
KERİM BALCI
   
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Columnists
ABDULHAMİT BİLİCİ
ABDULLAH BOZKURT
ALİ BULAÇ
ALİ H. ASLAN
AMANDA PAUL
ANDREW FINKEL
ASIM ERDİLEK
AYŞE KARABAT
BEJAN MATUR
BERİL DEDEOĞLU
BERK ÇEKTİR
BÜLENT KENEŞ
BÜLENT KORUCU
CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON
DOĞU ERGİL
EKREM DUMANLI
EMRE USLU
ETYEN MAHÇUPYAN
FATMA DİŞLİ ZIBAK
FİKRET ERTAN
GÜRKAN ZENGİN
HASAN KANBOLAT
HÜSEYİN GÜLERCE
İBRAHİM KALIN
İBRAHİM ÖZTÜRK
İHSAN DAĞI
İHSAN YILMAZ
KATHY HAMILTON
KERİM BALCI
KLAUS JURGENS
LALE KEMAL
MEHMET KAMIŞ
MICHAEL KUSER
MUHAMMED ÇETİN
MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE
NICOLE POPE
ÖMER TAŞPINAR
ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ
PAT YALE
ŞAHİN ALPAY
SELÇUK GÜLTAŞLI
SUAT KINIKLIOĞLU
YAVUZ BAYDAR