Former Lebanese PM Salim Al-Hoss: Not So Gung-Ho on Democracies

The following are excerpts from an interview with former Lebanese prime minister Salim Al-Hoss:

Al-Hoss: As for democracies in the world, I believe that we praise them too much: How great is American democracy, how great is British democracy, French democracy, and so on. I am not so taken by them. Yes, it is a model of which we should adopt the best, but I am not taken by it at all. America is, to a great extent, a democracy, but only internally. I'm saying "to a great extent," not completely. I have reservations about the American democracy. For example, you see two candidates competing for the presidency, one on the right and one on the left, roughly, and they compete against each other. Ultimately, what determines whether America will proceed right or left for four years might be a margin of one percent of the votes. Is this democracy? One percent of the people's votes drags America to the left or right?! What democracy is this? Moreover, assuming it's a democracy to a certain extent - in the previous election, Al Gore won more (votes) on a nationwide scale more than Bush, but Bush won and Gore lost because of the Electoral College.

Take another example. France is a democracy. Then why did it oppress the Hizbullah TV channel, Al-Manar TV? Why did it prevent it from expressing its opinion? How can France be called a democracy? We talk about democratic culture. Are we the only ones in need of democratic culture? I think this culture is lacking even in Western countries.