It also surprised me that someone could have published this kind of highly personalised book whilst they are still Speaker of the National Assembly. Could this have happened in other Parliamentary democracies where the Speaker is expected to be completely non-partisan?
But then it might also be asked if it would be acceptable for a previous head of government to express criticisms – albeit implied – of a current head as former President Masire did in the Patriot (March 23) with the headline, ‘You Can’t Eat Guns’? But then again, as I have previously suggested, it would be extraordinary in those democracies if a government with the disappointing track record of the current BDP government here were to be returned to power, perhaps with an increased majority, as could well happen in the October election. I suggested that such an outcome could happen here because there are other factors in this country which may weigh more heavily with voters. In a sense, this may indicate that, with a total national vote of less than one million, this country may more realistically need to be compared with the democratic systems that pertain in one of the world’s larger cities. When one party has won 10 successive elections on the trot, the conventions that have been developed elsewhere should not be applied here without careful thought.
