There have to be rules in order for democracy to work

The cry for democracy has become a convenient defence against anything that doesn’t fit a particular agenda. Almost anything you do nowadays is seen as a "threat to democracy."

This was brought home when the NDP disqualified Anjali Appadurai from its leadership race clearing the way for Attorney General David Eby to become the new party leader today. The transition to Eby from John Horgan as premier could take a few weeks.

Appadurai and her supporters can lament all they want about democracy but there’s that little thing called rules that stands in the way.

The NDP election brass investigated and determined the rules had been violated and told her she was no longer a candidate. Since the nomination deadline had passed with only Eby left he was the winner by acclamation. The leadership vote had been set for early December, but was moved up to today by the party executive.

Democracy works when the rules are adhered to, so in this case, it worked. The next test of Eby’s victory will come at the next fully-democratic election when all British Columbians can render a verdict on him as premier.