Rached Ghannouchi Quotes

The peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history yet common in our country.

Striking a balance between governability and historical reckoning is most difficult during the early years of a democratic transition.

But transitions from the politics of violence to democratic compromise are always messy.

At the end of 4 years, you have a President who turns over all this enormous power without a single shot being fired.

Advancing democracy does not always foster political stability.

Establishing a stable democracy is a two stage process. First you get rid of the old regime, then you build a durable democratic replacement. Because the first stage is dramatic, many people think the game is over when the dictator is gone. But the second stage is more difficult. There are many examples of broad coalitions coming together to oust dictators but relatively few of them stayed together and agreed on what a new regime should look like.

Will Iraq be a democracy? The question is, 'Will America be a democracy?'

The whole point of constitutional democracy is the peaceful transfer of power; of Al Gore passing the baton to George W. Bush, even though that election was very suspiciously called.

The people have spoken. Their decision is sovereign. We all respect it... I wish good luck to those who will now govern France.

Further more Yemen is leading pioneer in democratic practice, lots of brothers and friends testified on that.

There's always Tunisia. Amid the smoking ruins of the Middle East, there is that one encouraging success story.

The Iraqi elections were an important first step.

I hope that with the success of the transition to democracy in Tunisia that we will export to Egypt a working democratic model.

In many emerging democracies, democracy and stability are mutually incompatible.

We’re trying to create the first democracy in the Arab world.

Arab governments, at the end of the day, care most about remaining in power.

The willingness of local elites to cope with the uncertainty of fully competitive politics will thus be the ultimate factor in determining whether competitive authoritarianism proves a way station for democratic development or a safe house for autocrats. .

It is a very good warning to all of the dictators. If you lose an election, you have to go gacefully, or you will be disgraced.

No one can take away the experience of Yeltsin's freedoms, but Russian democracy will never follow Western models: other authoritarian 'controlled democracies' - Turkey, Taiwan, Mexico - ultimately developed into democracies. But it took decades.

What makes America's election system unique is the fact that even when elections are close, we find a resolution, which leads to the peaceful transition of power that remains one of the most important tenets of our democracy.

I will not be standing for office. I'm nearing 70; there are younger people within our movement. I just wish to contribute intellectually to the historic process of taking Tunisia from the era of repression to one of democracy.

I think Donald Trump believes in democracy and the right to change of power.

If you've worked together with somebody very well, leave-taking is very difficult. But we are all politicians. We all know that democracy lives off change. So, in the United States of America, the Constitution has very clear stipulations on this. It's a tough rule. Eight years and that's it, out goes the president and a new one comes in.

Burma is not yet a full-fledged democracy. We have started working on the road to full democracy. We have a lot of things to do in order to build a democratic structure and to be become a full-fledged democracy.

It’s not that Egypt doesn’t have a recipe for a democratic transition. It seems to lack even the basic mental ingredients.