Garry Kasparov Quotes

If democracy succeeds in Egypt, other countries will follow. Should the democratic experiment in Egypt be hijacked by the military or anti-democratic Islamist groups, the revolution will fail elsewhere.

The Iraqi elections were an important first step.

In general the 53 countries on the continent of Africa have made great progress towards freedom and democracy, and in terms of electing good, sound administrations.

We didn't put a single boot on the ground, and [Muammar] Gaddafi was deposed. The Libyans turned out for one of the most successful, fairest elections that any Arab country has had. They elected moderate leaders.

We must remember, elections are short-term efforts. Revolutions are long-term projects.

There are ways to pursue political change. In a democracy, it's through the ballot box. There are other ways, and many democracies have many different systems of democracy.

Those looking from Europe see Turkey as an economic success, whereas others from the Middle East see Turkey as a democratic success.

It is certainly not unrealistic to think we could have elections by mid-year 2004 and when a sovereign government is installed - my job here will be done.

Those of us who actually were working in the region at the time will point out how strongly committed we were to supporting the democratic process and encouraging elections, in spite of the fact that a war was going on in several of these countries.

That is why I came to conclusion that the election must take place, so that the republic can have a government. If I were to say that everything will change for the better immediately, that would not be true. The struggle will continue for a long time.

Saddam's ouster will not necessarily lead to the same result, since Iraq lacks democratic traditions. Democracy doesn't just consist of holding elections.

One person alone can't do anything as important as bringing genuine democracy to a country.

I'm trying to tell you that there's a new wave on the continent. A new wave of openness and democratization in which, since 2000, more than two-thirds of African countries have had multi-party democratic elections. Not all of them have been perfect, or will be, but the trend is very clear.

Change comes with both fear and some pain. Those two ingredients create mistrust, misunderstanding and misinformation. Such is the process of democracy.

On Jan. 30, millions of Iraqis will cast ballots in the country's first fair and free election in decades, marking continued progress in Iraq's transition toward a country built on the pillars of democracy and freedom for all.

All we have is our vote. But it's powerful.

The ballot is stronger than bullets.

In just three years, Iraq has achieved immense progress. It has had three successful elections in which 80% of their citizens voted, even while being threatened with death.

If you present good government, then elections look after themselves.

Well, one thing that has happened is they have had a presidential election in Egypt which has represented progress. Now, we were not happy with everything that happened with the parliamentary elections, and it was not exactly a perfect presidential election in Egypt.

For politics to change … culture must change too --- and that takes much more than dispatching troops, holding elections, and writing constitutions.

We can not have free government without elections. And if the rebellion could force us to forgo, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have conquered or ruined us.

I do not believe in a clash of civilizations in this world. As Turkey we are in an ideal position to be a bridge….We have been able to show that a Moslem country can have a strong democracy…. We have to have a common platform to fight against terrorism. All terrorists are bad no matter what religion the come from.

Advancing democracy does not always foster political stability.

It is very easy to have elections. It is very difficult to consolidate political order.