This is a deeply colonial idea, unfortunately often repeated by non-white people who are intellectually colonized. World history across all cultures has many examples of assemblies and councils, most at a very local level. There's nothing "Western" about the idea of consultation.
The system we today call capital-D Democracy is a recent human experiment that builds on centuries of political experiences and best practices, and is constantly improved. There is absolutely nothing about this system that makes it fit for only some regions but not others.
Here's the thing: 19th & 20th century European colonialists ran democratic governments back at home, but subjugated natives in their colonies. This contradiction needed a justification. So they came up with the colonial narrative: "They are not fit for self rule".
(History records another such justification that ended up being more devastating than the crime itself: Racism as a justification for slavery. Nobody could hide the ugliness of slavery, so they tried to justify it by saying that enslaved races are fundamentally inferior.)
Democracy today is the best representation of self-rule - any citizen can become a political leader and every citizen has political agency. If you agree with the "They are not fit for self rule" line, then you're still carrying and continuing the colonial narrative.
