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Obama's election demonstrates
maturity of American democracy
By
Madhu Yaskhi
The
victory of Barack Obama in the US presidential elections signifies
once again the depth and maturity of American democracy. For
a country which until the early 1920s didn't allow women to
vote and had seen multiple suffrage movements to disband all
restrictions on race, religion and property to exercise the
right to vote, having an African American president is indeed
revolutionary.
This
victory lifts the spirits of not just millions of people in
America but of the poor, downtrodden and politically sidelined
hundreds of millions all over the world. Change has arrived
in America and this will hopefully herald and hasten change
across the world. And that is what this election will be rightly
remembered for.
The
new president faces the toughest economic challenges that
any president has perhaps faced in the past 50 years. The
debate on Wall Street and Main Street notwithstanding, president
Obama will be primarily working on ensuring that Americans
can keep their homes, pay their bills, send their children
to school and be able to afford healthcare. The new administration
should also try strike the fine balance between the need for
tighter regulation and control and the need to let American
industry thrive and prosper in an environment of innovation
and enterprise. While the former is needed for today, the
latter is what would make their tomorrow bright.
The
United States has lost a lot of friends in the last few years.
Making amends to this will be the new president's most formidable
task in the international arena. His administration should
reach out, not just in words but in actions, and has to do
so with a firm sense of conviction. It has relations to rebuild
in countries and communities all over the world and this is
not going to be an easy task either.
As
an active participant in the Indian polity, let me highlight
one aspect that we as Indians need to appreciate. After one
of the most bitterly fought presidential elections, Senator
John McCain graciously admitted defeat and offered to work
with the new president-elect while Obama promised that he
would listen to everyone's opinion and that he would be everybody's
president. All divisions ended after the polls and they presented
one face to the world - that of the United States - and not
of two parties, two states or two races.
Obama
also noted that President Bush had "graciously"
offered his full support and assistance to him during the
transition period.
"This
speaks to a fundamental recognition that here in America we
can compete vigorously in elections and challenge each other's
ideas, yet come together in service of a common purpose once
the voting is done," he said.
This
is a lesson that Indian political parties need to draw on
if we want to mature as a democracy.
(Madhu
Goud Yaskhi is a Member of Parliament in India who also ran
a law practice in New York. He can be contacted at madhu@madhuyaskhi.com
)
Indo-Asian
News Service
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