Bhutto assassination - Never take democracy for granted

THOUGH Europeans are lucky enough to be able to take democracy and all the great benefits that process confers almost for granted, every now and then some terrible event reminds us that it is a privilege to live in a society that regularly and peacefully elects and dismisses its leaders and, by and large, controls its affairs without resorting to violence.

Yesterday’s tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the leader of Pakistan’s opposition, is one such event.

Bhutto’s murder is a reminder that for all of the challenges facing Europe, that we live in peaceful, stable political times. That we have, for the moment at least, learnt the terrible lessons of our past — especially those of the last century when — twice — catastrophe beckoned. This morning catastrophe is a real possibility for Pakistan and that unfortunate country’s neighbours.