Forget the mafia, democracy is today the home of all the biggest scoundrels in the world. Winning the first election is the key. Once you are in appoint all your thugs to lucrative posts and they will commit any crime to keep you in power. Steal the subsequent elections by beating up the opposition, intimidating people to vote for you and get your thugs to stuff ballot boxes making sure that you win. Mugabe is an extreme case but variations can be seen across the world. Afghanistan's Karzai admitted that there was false voting in his favor but curiously blamed it on foreign election observers. Thailand's Abhisit Vejjajiva got his chair due to the blessings of the Constitutional Court which, in its wisdom, overturned the election victory of Thaksin Sinawatra's party. Thaksin, though elected with large majority of popular votes, was ousted by the army at the behest of the elite. Sometimes it can become embarrassing when the supporters go over the top in showing their support as in Iran where Ahmadinejad won opposition strongholds with margins more than the total number of voters. In India such things happen on a minor scale but on the whole elections pass off peacefully. However, as in other countries most politicians are elected with a minority of votes. If 40% of the people vote and you win with 40% of that because the opposition vote is divided then you won your seat with only 16% of the eligible voters. To avoid such problems the Congress has decided to do away with the people altogether and we have an unelected Prime Minister obeying madam faithfully and keeping the seat warm for sonubaba.