How democratically elected leaders are systematically undermining democracy.

By Neville Berman

“Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Winston Churchill

Elections are an essential part of democracy, but having elections does not mean that the country is democratic. Let us look at some examples of elections around the world.

Nothing beats the parliamentary elections in North Korea. The media reported that 99.93 % of the electorate voted. 100% of those who voted, reaffirmed Kim Jong Un as their leader. What an amazingly free and fair election result.

President Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad consistently received approval ratings of between 95 – 98% of the votes. The true position became absolutely clear in December 2024 when Bashar al-Assad was forced to flee to Russia where he was granted asylum.

President Muammar Gaddafi of Libya said that all his people loved him. Shortly thereafter he was forced to flee. He was found hiding in a ditch and was immediately executed.  Obviously not all his people loved him.

Believe it or not, elections were actually held in Afghanistan. Only men over the age of 18 were allowed to vote. An American organization decided to attend the election in order to report if the elections were free and fair.  The authorities in Afghanistan refused to allow the organization to be present inside the actual area where voting was going to take place.  At one polling station, they stood outside for the entire time that the polling station was open. They counted less than 800 people who came to vote. The official count showed that over 15,000 votes were cast at the polling station. Obviously, elections mean different things in different parts of the world.   

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. About a decade ago a senior Haiti official had a meeting with the Assistant American Secretary of State in Washington D.C. He asked what America would like to see happen in Haiti. The answer was that America would like to see free and fair elections in which all citizens over the age of 18 are allowed to vote. The official from Haiti agreed that this was essential. He then asked:

“After the vote, who do you want us to announce as the winner.”

Even the Islamic Republic of Iran has elections. Only candidates approved by the Iranian Guardian Council are allowed to become candidates. What a farce. No wonder that in 2024, less than 40% of those eligible to vote, actually voted. Clearly there is huge dissatisfaction at the way the country is governed. The amazing thing about the elections is the speed in which tens of millions of votes are counted. The results of the election are announced within hours of the closing of voting. It seems plausible that the results could be announced even before the voting started.   

Every Israeli citizen irrespective of race religion or gender who is over the age of 18, has the right to vote in Israeli parliamentary elections. Israel claims to be the sole democracy in the Middle East. In actual fact, no Israeli political party has ever won a majority of 61 seats out of the 120 seats in the Knesset. What this means is that after every election, a coalition government has to be formed. The price demanded by the smaller parties to join the coalition is normally out of all proportion to the amount of support that they received in the election. Bribery, corruption and extortion are the correct names for what takes place. New ministries with huge budgets are created to satisfy the egos of political hacks who are neither qualified nor experienced enough to handle. In the end a coalition government is formed that costs billions of shekels from the coffers of the country. The present Israeli government is composed of five political parties. The Israeli coalition government is in reality a ‘’reverse democracy” as it is not based on the wishes of the party that won the most votes, but on the demands and policies of the minority parties that agreed to join the coalition provided the price paid to them was sufficient. This arrangement ensures that someone becomes prime minister by manipulation.  Dan Bielski, a political commentator in Israel summed up the position succinctly when he stated that “Israeli politicians can commit suicide by jumping from their egos to their IQ’s.” 

Let us now look at how democratically elected leaders of countries have systematically turned their countries into autocracies.  Although the sequence of what takes place may differ from country to country, and some events may not occur, the playbook of how this is done is basically the same all over the world. It usually starts with the election of a leader, who has delusional views that only he can lead the country to recover past greatness, and lead the country to new heights.

Once elected, he immediately starts by assuming greater executive power than the law intended. The separation of powers between and legislative, judicial and executive are slowly but systematically dismantled. People perceived as possibly posing a threat to his leadership such as the top leadership of the military and security forces are removed from their positions of power. Control of the press and TV stations by the government is the next goal.  A crackdown on the liberal press and TV channels that the leader believes are acting against the wishes of the majority of the electorate is implemented. If the criticism continues, the newspapers and TV channels are closed down. The independence of the judiciary, that may rule against the government, is one of the things that elected officials cannot stand. At some point in time an attempt is made to change the way that judges are selected and appointed. In some countries, the entire judicial system is overhauled by arresting and holding judges in prison for months without any charges being filed. The civil service is always systematically subverted. This is done by retiring or firing civil servants whose views do not appear to be in line with government policy. Opposition candidates are then prevented from running in elections. This can happen because of “accidents”, or by trumped up legal charges against them. At this stage the judges in the courts understand that their own position is dependent on handing down prison sentences on those accused of committing certain crimes. Once in prison the opposition candidate is charged with additional crimes such as tax evasion and embezzlement.  The end result is always long-term imprisonment or the mysterious death of the prisoner while in jail.  

The Prime Minister or President always takes credit for everything positive that has occurred, even if he had nothing to do with anything that caused the positive situation. Anything negative that has occurred, is either blamed on the previous government, or the blame is shifted to external forces and enemies.  This gives the government an excuse to massively increase the defense budget. This is funded by deficit enlargement. While billions of dollars of government contracts are awarded to well-connected companies, the leader of the country somehow becomes a multi-millionaire or a billionaire. No explanation is given as to how he accumulated his new wealth. At some point during the above process, the constitution of the country is changed to allow the President or Prime Minister to rule for life.

Waging war is another way that leaders of countries hope to gain support. In 1982, Margaret Thatcher became immensely more popular by waging war against the Argentinian takeover of the Falkland Islands. The Falkland Islands are situated nearly 12,900 kilometers from Britain, and have almost zero strategic value. Nevertheless, Thatcher went to war to regain control of the islands. A fleet of Royal Navy ships were dispatched to the Falklands. In total six British ships were sunk including the HMS Sheffield, which was sunk by an Exocet missile. Dozens of aircraft and 24 helicopters never made it back to Britain. 649 Argentinian soldiers and 3 Falklanders were killed in the war. The cost of the war in today’s terms was over a billion sterling and 255 members of the British armed forces were killed.  Before the war, the British Prime Minister was behind in the polls. After regaining the Falkland Islands, the British press went absolutely overboard in praising the “Iron Lady”. Margaret Thatcher won the next election by a landslide. The lesson of going to war and winning in the election that follows has been noted by several of today’s leaders. 

Israel is not even close to the level of autocracy or dictatorship found in Russia, China, Turkey, North Korea, Afghanistan, and most Middle Eastern countries ruled by military dictatorships or royal families. However, Israel has fulfilled several of the steps outlined above that result in democracy moving towards autocracy. This is a slippery slope that is difficult to reverse.

The coming Israeli election in October, will be an opportunity for the electorate in Israel, to do what is necessary to ensure that the slippery slope is firmly reversed. Bibi Netanyahu has used every trick in the book to remain in power, and he is prepared to use any means necessary to continue to be the prime minister. The coming election is going to be brutal and unethical. The present political leadership has failed to bring unity to the country. It needs to be replaced. 

About the writer:

Accountant Neville Berman had an illustrious sporting career in South Africa, being twice awarded the South African State Presidents Award for Sport and was a three times winner of the South African Maccabi Sportsman of the Year Award.  In 1978 he immigrated to the USA  to coach the United States men’s field hockey team, whereafter, in 1981 he immigrated to Israel where he practiced as an accountant and then for 20 years was the Admin Manager at the American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel.  He is married with two children and one granddaughter.

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