The late eminent political theorist Samuel P Huntington claimed that, ‘Elections, open, free and fair, are the essence of democracy, the inescapable sine qua non’, and this is essentially what the PPP and its supporters have always had in mind. However, Huntington went on to argue that, ‘Governments produced by elections may be inefficient, corrupt, shortsighted, irresponsible, dominated by special interests, and incapable of adopting policies demanded by the public good. These qualities make such governments undesirable but they do not make them undemocratic. … Democracy is one public virtue, not the only one, and the relation of democracy to other public virtues and vices can only be understood if democracy is clearly distinguished from the other characteristics of political systems.’
He also identified good governance as requiring ‘effective citizen control over policies, responsible government, honesty and openness in politics, informed and rational deliberation, equal participation and power’. Using these virtues as a backdrop, in 2014, I referred to the PPP/C as a democracy without political virtues and therefore one that should be removed from office (SN: 30/04/2014).
