Between April 20 and May 10, staggered over five rounds, Indians will vote in the 14th general election since inde- pendence in 1947. When Florida caused such a fuss in the last U.S. presidential election four years ago, Indians were bemused and amused in equal measure. They suggested that Americans consider seeking the assistance of India's election officials. Recalling that George W. Bush had fewer votes than Democratic rival Al Gore and bearing in mind the curtailment of freedoms and civil liberties since 9/11, Indians also quip that when Americans talk of exporting U.S. democracy, they mean exporting democracy out of America to the rest of the world.
The latest twist in the spread of democracy is the replacement of elected leaders with unelected ones -- from Pakistan and the Philippines to Haiti.
In the Middle East, probably the Arab leader with the best claim to being genuinely elected by his people is Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Yet he is the one Arab leader that Washington will not deal with. And in Venezuela, too, the elected president is in strife with Washington.