Jacques Derrida points out in Rogues, that in the name of protecting democracy a popular election was suspended in Algeria so as to protect it against the democratic election of a fundamentalist regime. It means a suspension of democracy in the name of democracy.



Fareed Zakaria, the noted columnist of the Newsweek and a Director of Yale University recollects a meeting between a visiting senior US diplomat and the President of Egypt in The Future of Democracy.



“The two talk amiably about U.S.-Egyptian relations, regional affairs, and the state of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Then the American gently raises the issue of human rights and suggests that Egypt’s government might ease up on political dissent, allow more press freedoms, and stop jailing intellectuals. Mubarak tenses up and snaps, ‘ If I were to do what you ask, Islamic fundamentalists will take over Egypt. Is that what you want?’ The conversation moves back to the latest twist in the peace process.”



In the recent times, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan is successfully selling the same argument to the U.S.



In the Palestinian elections, the choice was between the two fundamentalist organisations - Fateh and Hamas in which the later has emerged victorious. Fateh is not willing to accept the electoral defeat gracefully. Such an attitude may lead to the internecine clashes between the two. On the other hand, to administer and govern is totally different with the work of spreading terror in the name of advancing political agenda.