Tyrants Who Grew Up
It is very rare, but dictators and kings occasionally give up power peacefully
Dictators to Democrats
It’s
hard to believe, but some authoritarian leaders have turned to democracy — and
quietly ceded power.
1. Joachim Chissano
A
revered freedom fighter who helped defeat Portuguese colonialists, Chissano
became the socialist president of Mozambique — then a single-party state — in
1986. But as a civil war raged, he negotiated a peace deal with rebels in 1992
and agreed to democratic elections. He won those in 1994 and 1999 before
stepping away, respecting the two-term limit.
2. Mathieu Kérékou
The
Berlin Wall had just fallen in 1989 when the army major turned socialist leader
of the small West African nation of Benin decided to transition the country to
a multiparty democracy. In the 1991 elections held after nationwide
consultations, Kérékou contested, lost and calmly gave up power. The first
democratic transfer of power in postcolonial West Africa set an example that
the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Togo, Burundi, Rwanda
and Niger would all follow in the 1990s. And unlike many such tectonic shifts
that have been stained by civil wars, Benin’s transition was totally peaceful.
For
some socialists, it was the end of a dream. For others, it was the demise of
what started out as a revolutionary ideal but became a monster resembling the
imperialist powers it had promised to counter. And for still others, it was the
culmination of decades-long efforts to bring down what President Ronald Reagan
called an “evil empire. ” Whatever your view, there has been no
political transition in the past century more significant than the collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991. It’s easy to think of that moment as inevitable, but
the country’s then-leader Mikhail Gorbachev could have easily continued
like his predecessors, using the ruthless military and intelligence
infrastructure at his disposal. Instead, after surviving a coup attempt, he
allowed Ukraine, Belarus and others to gain independence from the USSR and
paved the way for its dissolution.
Two Kings Who Showed the Way
Not all monarchs have waited until
public pressure – or the threat of a revolution – forced them to embrace
democracy.
1.
Juan Carlos I
He was widely expected to continue
Francisco Franco’s authoritarian rule after the Spanish dictator’s death in
1975. Carlos was king of Spain, and had worked closely with Franco. But
instead, he reinstituted democracy. And that’s not all. In 1981, military
leaders led by Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero plotted and executed an
audacious attempt at a coup, entering Parliament with 200 soldiers and
holding legislators hostage for 18 hours. But unlike Constantine II of Greece,
Spain’s king didn’t compromise with democracy. He ordered the army to take on
Tejero and his men, who eventually surrendered.
2.
Jigme Singye Wangchuck
The monarchy commands absolute respect
and adulation in the Himalayan nation of Bhutan, its position unchallenged. Yet
in 2008, the king announced that Bhutan would transition to a
parliamentary democracy. In three national elections since then, Bhutan has
each time voted for a new government, demonstrating a hunger for change
its own people hadn’t recognized with the first murmurings of democracy.
https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/1/messages/AF9XKSE0I0oPX6iNLwSnaL4kVAc
No comments:
Post a Comment