Something remarkable happened last night. A government fell. A nation changed its rulers. And not a single bullet was fired.
When Paul Martin lost, his lifelong ambition to be Prime Minister in ruins, he graciously took to the podium, and congratulated Stephen Harper on his win. He outlined what he felt were his government's accomplishments, before dutifully stepping aside as leader, putting party, and country, first.
When Stephen Harper took to the stage, realizing a dream for many, he congratulated Paul Martin for his many years in service of his country.
The two may be different, they may have different ideas for Canada, they may have fought a long and tough campaign, but in the end they are both patriots and placed honour and country first.
Contrast this to Bangladesh, where the losing party always berates corruption, accuses an impartial caretaker government of fraud and vote rigging, encourages its youth wing to run loose in the city and cause mayhem, forces a general strike causing hardships to all, and then abstain from attending parliament and providing a meaningful opposition. They don't have to look far for inspiration, neighbouring India was the picture of grace when Vajpayee conceded the election to Sonia Gandhi's Congress.
Yes, today, I am proud to be a Canadian. There is much to learn for the world from Canadians.
Tags: Canada Elections
2 comments:
You can’t compare or expect it from Bangladesh. Bangladeshi democracy has established for 3 terms of election and still the process of democracy are poor and childish. There is a saying in bd, “Winners takes all”. Oppositions are always suffering. They have no contribution on the assembly. Bangladesh has only electoral democracy and ruling party is trying to ruin that one too these days. So it will take time to learn the way Canadian politics you’ve seen. Yah… We’re all proud to be Canadians.
Jashim
Arnab, yes Wappel ended up winning easily. I feel Scarborough Liberals (who are really Conservatives) will never be out of power until they realize. Atleast ours, Derek Lee, is a good guy.
I felt Martin's speech was the best I heard him give in a long time. Did you notice he didn't stutter. It was as if finally he could say what he really wanted to say, and it came from the heart. This was how he should have ruled, campaigned. Even though I didn't like the way he ousted Chretein, today, a part of me felt sad by the way all his dreams and ambitions have crumbled around him. Gordon Brown of UK, take note. Hubris is a dangerous thing.
I was glad at how Harper addressed the nation. He looked like a PM. If he is smart, he will reach out to the cities that have shut Tories out (TO, Vanc, Mntl) and help fund major projects (like expanding subways, roads, etc.) - as these cities usually hold the key to a majority. If you really look at it one way, all that happened in the election was that Tories won 20 more seats than before. I would hope in the future an alliance could happen that would wipe out the Bloc in Quebec.
Jashim, I know Bangladesh is a young democracy but sometimes the quibbling and childishness and selfishness is too much. Not a single MP has paid their telephone bill!!! In Canada, no matter how much corruption a politician is indulged in, he never harms Canada. In Bangladesh, the country and the people the MP are representing never figures on priorities.
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