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  European feudalism finally ends as Sark heads for democracy
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Contributorparticleman 
Last Editedparticleman  Dec 11, 2008 09:51pm
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CategoryNews
MediaNewspaper - Independent
News DateFriday, December 12, 2008 03:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionEurope's final feudal state became a full democracy yesterday as inhabitants of Sark headed to the polls to create the island's first wholly elected government, after months of rancorous infighting which has left the tiny Channel Island bitterly divided.

A high turnout was expected at the only polling booth, in the island's community centre, from among Sark's 474 registered voters. The landmark election will turn the island's feudal-inspired legislature into a democratically elected one.

But despite the celebratory atmosphere in Island Hall yesterday, Sark's transition to democracy has been a long and painful process, one which has pitted neighbour against neighbour, and friend against friend. The birth of democracy on the crown dependency has indeed created two bitterly opposed factions.

On one side are the island's traditionalists who support their feudal lord, Seigneur John Michael Beaumont, and fear Sark's peculiar customs and rich heritage risk being swept away by modernisers who depend on outside investment for their jobs.

On the other side are supporters of the Barclay brothers, two reclusive billionaire newspaper magnates who have long campaigned to democratise the island and believe the old guard represents a "culture of secrecy, unaccountability and cronyism". The brothers, who own The Daily Telegraph and Ritz Hotel in London, have invested millions in Sark's economy and now own some 20 per cent of the island, but their opponents have accused them of threatening to withdraw investments unless the people of Sark vote for candidates sympathetic to their cause.

Ever since they acquired Brecqhou, an even smaller island that lies just a few metres off Sark but falls under its jurisdiction, the brothers have made no secret of their desire to replace the island's political system with a more democratic one. When they bought Brecqhou from Sark in 1993 for a reported £2.3m, the brothers were astonished to learn that under the island's archaic la
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