The Arab world can do a lot of good to itself by carefully following the democratic progress in India. India, the world's largest democracy, continuously manages to inspire the world in politics and, off course, in its economy. The “big news” in India these days seems to be the return of the Gandhi family to the forefront of Indian politics in a big way. Rahul Gandhi, the grandson of Indira Gandhi and the son of the late Rajiv Gandhi, has become the Congress Party's “vice president”. The president is his mother Sonia, an Italian-Indian widow who opted to play the back room role of king-maker rather than becoming king herself. She took her time to “prepare” her son for the unforgiving political limelight of Indian politics. Rahul Gandhi finally decided to make a move. It is a timely, planned move to capitalize on the great in-fighting that is eating up the chances of the opposition. Mr. Gandhi, however, has proved to be quite a reluctant and timid politician in many situations. He was engaged over the past 12 months in a failed state election campaigns in Gujarat and in Uttar Pradesh. This experience seems to be paying off and somehow helpful to him and to his avid supporters. He learn how to energize the party and prepare it for the upcoming general elections which could launched him to the coveted post of prime minister just like his father, grandmother and great grandfather Nehru. His appetite for this kind of accomplishment was seen in a spirited speech he gave recently when he accepted his new post wherein he bluntly called for a new “revolution” in India, asked for a much more open government and decentralized governing system. His talks also did not miss the chance to poke fun at his own party when he said that he would like it to be more representative for all of India, whether toward the poor farmers or urbanites. All of this is part of an ongoing effort to build the right image for the future leader with a “magnate” to his last name. There is a great sense of hope and, therefore, the acceptance of the 42-year-old Gandhi, particularly in the villages of India where his messages on education, reforms and farming policies hit a strong chord. Mr. Gandhi has a very good chance of winning the big prize as long as no other party surprises and no other strong candidate comes up — a very unlikely possibility. Indian politics and the conventional wisdom that comes with it think it is Gandhi's moment now and a serious fight from the opposition will not take place. As for the lesson that Arabs can learn from this, it is simply this: there is a huge difference between going legitimate through the proper democratic channels and creating a dynasty by shoving sons into the throats of people by means of brutal force like what Saddam, Gaddafi, Mubarak, Assad and Ali Saleh did. Simply look at the difference and compare!
