The most difficult aspect of a democracy is learning to accept defeat graciously. President Laurent Gbagbo in the West African nation of Ivory Coast refused to step down, after losing the 2010 election to his rival, Alassane Ouattara. The ensuing conflict cost hundreds of lives. But apparently, it's not only countries in Africa like the Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe and the Congo, where we find political parties unwilling to accept the legitimacy of the winner.
↧