Does a leader have a right to bypass democratic institutions to ensure his people are fed and secure?

Our Question: Posted at 10:21 AM ET, 10/25/2006 Does a leader have a right to bypass democratic institutions to ensure his people are fed and secure? - Panelist Daoud Kuttab Daoud Kuttab has posed the following question on the Washington Post website PostGlobal (blog.washingtonpost.com/postglobal): LEDE: Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has said bread is more important than democracy, and he may be preparing to try to dissolve the Hamas-led Palestinian parliment. QUESTION: Does a leader have a right to bypass democratic institutions to ensure his people are fed and secure? We would love for your to weigh in. When you do, enter your name, location, and the email link of your blog in the name field and post a comment. Then notify us here and we'll feature your response on the PostGlobal page, and perhaps the mainpage as well if the piece can stand alone. Answer Here. Peace