Indonesia’s strongman Soeharto is one example. He rose to power after quashing the Communist movement in 1965. He got himself comfortable, perhaps too comfortable, and then overstayed his welcome all the way until he was forcefully removed in 1998. He restored stability at the beginning of his rule, and thanks to the oil money (and OPEC’s quadrupling of oil prices in the 1970s), he bought himself time by delivering the economic goods to the people through economic development. He organized six general elections, but they were hardly democratic and were designed to ensure that he was reelected each time, therefore giving some semblance of political legitimacy to his power.

Democracy? He never had time for it and never had the intention of giving his people one, especially not if it was going to undermine his power. Once you’re at the top, why would you want to give your power away?

As the old saying goes, a dictator is like someone riding on a tiger. Soeharto could not have stepped aside and made way for democracy to take root in Indonesia, because he would have become the first victim of prosecution once democracy and law enforcement were established. So far, nine years after he stepped down, he has managed to evade prosecution, but time will catch up with him.

Pakistani voters have to make up their mind whether they want democracy or they simply want stability. If they want the latter, then vote for the generals, by all means. But be prepared to give up a lot of your freedoms. It’s too high a price for any nation to pay.