Those That Are Against Free Elections Continue To Belittle Them

I just wanted to point out these quotes from An Associated Press story talking about Egypt's attempts to create free elections:

But experts at a three-day conference on Arab reform warned that putting the amendment into practice may be difficult. For one thing, Egyptians are not used to having a voice at the ballot box and may not see it as a civic duty, said Osama el-Ghazali Harb, editor of the quarterly International Politics magazine at Egypt's Al Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies.

"The family, the school, the mosque all emphasize obedience. Many people are too busy to make ends meet, and for them voting is a luxury," Harb said Monday at this Mediterranean gathering, which ends Tuesday.

Others may be unconvinced that their vote will count, which could also lead to a low turnout that could discredit the election, scheduled for September.

"Most elections in the Arab world are rigged," said Al Ahram center analyst Mohamed el-Said Idris. "More people will go to the polls when they feel they can bring down the government or can bring a government to office."

Yet despie the same being true in Iraq, half the voting population came out to cast their ballot. When are the purveyors of tyranny going to learn that they can not "talk down" the desire for Democracy?

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