Election In Indonesia
deanesmay
Indonesia, which has been a democracy for a while now, is having their first direct-election of a President today. They used to have their legislators pick their President.
I think I mention this primarily because Indonesia, along with Turkey, proves that those who believe that there are no Muslim democracies or that Muslim democracies can't exist simply haven't done their homework.
Mind you, there will be those who point out that these nations have problems. To which I can only respond, "name me the democracy that doesn't."
Some also point out that the Turkish system is odd because the military occasionally comes in and throws out the legislature. I think what they fail to understand is that, Constitutionally, this is how the Turkish system is designed. If certain Constitutional circumstances occur--basically, if the Constitution is violated--the military is empowered to throw out the legislature and force new elections. They've done this several times, and each time a new government has been peacefully elected. It may be odd, but it works, and really isn't much odder than some of the weird permutations of the American system (such as our appointed-for-life judiciary's power to throw out laws they don't approve of).
I think I mention this primarily because Indonesia, along with Turkey, proves that those who believe that there are no Muslim democracies or that Muslim democracies can't exist simply haven't done their homework.
Mind you, there will be those who point out that these nations have problems. To which I can only respond, "name me the democracy that doesn't."
Some also point out that the Turkish system is odd because the military occasionally comes in and throws out the legislature. I think what they fail to understand is that, Constitutionally, this is how the Turkish system is designed. If certain Constitutional circumstances occur--basically, if the Constitution is violated--the military is empowered to throw out the legislature and force new elections. They've done this several times, and each time a new government has been peacefully elected. It may be odd, but it works, and really isn't much odder than some of the weird permutations of the American system (such as our appointed-for-life judiciary's power to throw out laws they don't approve of).
So I used IE 6.? and it worked...will my cookies on Netscape still get my in? I'm gonna go try and see.
Chris tells me we do use cookies....
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.