Pakistan holds elections on Saturday. More than 70 people have been killed nationwide in pre-election violence. It is encouraging that Pakistani High Court Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan issued a ruling on Thursday declaring US drone strikes in tribal areas in Pakistan illegal and a war crime.
I hope this election can help Pakistanis attach a much tighter leash on their own government. Unfortunately, elections rarely curb the rapacity of politicians. (America has re-learned this the hard way with practically every election since 1928.) The Lost Rights quip about democracy, wolves, and lambs has popped up fairly often lately in Pakistani tweets. Here’s a reposting of some of those tweets -
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. – James Bovard
— Priyank Rathod (@priyank_ignitis) May 9, 2013
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. –James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)
— MAJYD AZIZ (@MajydAziz) April 5, 2013
There’s a bevy of other Pakistani Twitter quotes (and some from elsewhere in Asia) reposted (with the full Twitter imagery, including author photos) at my blog entry on the Pakistani election.