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Sharansky: Elections Too Soon Brought Hamas

[Newsweek] Zvika Krieger - This week, Natan Sharansky is hosting a conference in Prague dubbed "The Davos of Dissidents." Among the dozens of democracy advocates from Iran to North Korea will be co-hosts Vaclav Havel, the former Czech president, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, and President Bush himself. Sharansky: There are those who believe democracy is not for everybody, and that when it comes to the Arab world, there are no democratic regimes, and that it is wishful thinking to try to push for it, so let's have good relations with dictators who help bring stability. There are dissidents in those countries who are very upset with the free world. They are saying, "Stop supporting them." I appreciate that President Bush liked my book, but there are some of my ideas he doesn't share. He was very firm in pushing for immediate elections, a concept I was very critical of. Free elections have to follow the building of civil society. This, unfortunately, was ignored, and pushing for immediate elections paved the road for Hamas. When there are elections during or after many years of corrupt dictatorship, people choose candidates who are taking care of immediate needs. People kept asking why Christian villages voted for Hamas. It's because Hamas was protecting them from the gangs of Fatah.
2007-06-06 01:00:00
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