"The fear that a vote for Islamists would mean 'one man, one vote, one time' is not something dreamt up by outsiders. It is voiced throughout the Muslim world. In 1991, the government of Algeria [under Chadli Bendjedid] gave just this reason for cancelling the second round of an election in which an Islamist party, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), was poised to displace the National Liberation Front (FLN), which had ruled since independence. Once they grabbed power, said the FLN, the Islamists could never be trusted to give it up again. This seems a bit rich, coming from a government that was not itself willing to give up power in a fair election."