An Advice to the Vice President

By Ahmed Sheikh, Washington DC

The British do not have a written constitution. Their head of state - the king or the queen ? is never elected. Members of the upper chamber of parliament dress themselves in gaudy, funny looking 16th-century clothes in red, blue and purple. Some male parliamentarians proudly flaunt unattractive wigs.

The seating arrangement in the parliament too is awkward ? circa 1650 AD. Yet British democracy has successfully worked for centuries. This raises the question as to how and why British politicians have been able to avoid a political crisis like the one we Americans faced recently?

Mr. Vice President, the answer to this riddle is very simple and is contained in a short five?word refrain, “It is just not done”, a refrain which British politicians follow faithfully and voluntarily. There is no rethinking after one has conceded the election even if one has the votes - THIS IS JUST NOT DONE.

PS: I never thought that I, an immigrant and a Muslim, would be giving advice to the Vice President of the United States about democracy. But that is what makes the United States so great.