| Резюме: | Strongmen don’t always want to get rid of voting. Some find it useful to legitimise their rule – as long as they know they’ll win Voting is not synonymous with democracy. Take Thailand. In 2014, the military launched the latest of its many coups. But juntas are not a good look for modern economies, so elections eventually arrived this year. The promise was a return to democracy; the intention was to prolong rule by the military, which created its own party. The constitution was rigged to boost its chances, 45 days taken to tally votes – announced this Wednesday – and a bizarre, elaborate formula used to calculate the outcome. The leader of a new pro-democracy party which performed well has been hit by multiple legal cases including a charge of sedition. After all this, the coup leader is expected to retain his position as prime minister, this time with the veneer of an electoral mandate. In many places, leaders have increasingly inventive means to produce the results they want. Alongside old favourites – gerrymandering, ballot box stuffing, vote buying and menacing the opposition – come more ingenious measures: resurrecting the dead (at least on electoral rolls) or launching online disinformation campaigns. In March’s presidential election in Ukraine, the high profile politician Yulia Tymoshenko found herself next to another YV Tymoshenko on the ballot paper. In Benin’s elections last month, new financial rules disqualified all opposition parties from running. Continue reading... |