Graeme Leung Quotes

The overthrow of a democratically elected government is a very serious crime and those involved — great or small — must face the consequences. Otherwise we will continue to see a repetition of coups and other politically motivated criminal activity.

I'm very disappointed by the mature-democracy countries. I was ousted by a coup d'etat.

Fiji had experienced the ordeal of two military coups.

Nigeria first entered...'the dismal tunnel' on January 15, 1966, when the military overthrew all the institutions of a democratically elected government... If there is light at the end of this tunnel, it is imperceptible to anyone not paid to see it.

Only two countries in this hemisphere are not democratic, but many countries in both Central and South America, and in the Caribbean, are really fragile democracies.

For every African state, like Ghana, where democratic institutions seem secure, there is a Mali, a Cote d'Ivoire, and a Zimbabwe, where democracy is in trouble.

By the late 1970s, repression and economic chaos were causing increasing unrest throughout Latin America. Army strongmen were forced to cede power in Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

Before the military coup in Chile, we had the idea that military coups happen in Banana Republics, somewhere in Central America. It would never happen in Chile. Chile was such a solid democracy. And when it happened, it had brutal characteristics.

Ukraine is facing a serious threat of isolation as some local political forces want to put an end to democracy and democratic reforms in the country

In a democracy, when you have 20 million people in the street, you resign. Unfortunately, we don’t have a process of recall or impeachment as you have. It was a popular uprising rejecting Mr. Morsi’s continuing in power. Unfortunately, people had to call on the army to intervene. The army had to intervene because short of that, we would have ended up in a civil war.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the U.S. government, lead by Mr. Bush, planned and participated in a coup d'etat in Venezuela in April, 2002.

When General Musharraf took over, the Bar Association was among the first of some of the institutions that said they would not accept the Musharraf regime.

I think when the military ousts a sitting president, even if the sitting president is deeply unpopular, that's the definition of a coup.

Democracy is dead in the Maldives.

Maduro distanced himself from democracy. He deconstructed the entire judiciary and blocked parliamentary processes.

A hated government does not long survive.

There is no provision for judicial review. It is a strangely undemocratic way to bring democracy to the rest of the world.

A transition from party to personal government has preceded every failure of a republic.

...we must forgive him who repents, and asketh pardon for what is past; having first taken caution for the time to come

Advancing democracy does not always foster political stability.

Democracy has generally failed in Africa because to much power, too often, was concentrated in the hands of too few.

In times of crisis, we should have a period of 6 months of dictatorship to straighten things up, then return to democracy.

I have no doubt that if an actual ticking bomb situation were to arise, our law enforcement authorities would torture. The real debate is whether such torture should take place outside of our legal system or within it. The answer to this seems clear: If we are to have torture, it should be authorized by the law.

Nobody liked Diem. But how to get rid of him and get somebody who would continue the war, not split the country in two, and therefore not only lose the war but the country—that was the problem.

We are actually experiencing a dismantling of democracy. I didn’t think this was possible.