So, we usually have just to trust that people who come and ask for things can really represent community, and are not going to undermine something in evil ways. Usually we like to trust, and love to trust. But sometimes a single campaign against can shatter it all.
This might be a good place for local ArbComs to step in. They can determine consensus and make the request to developers. Developers trying to determine consensus, especially on projects in languages they don't speak, is pretty much impossible - it comes down to a (hopefully lucky) guess.