Half the course toward democracy [Archives:2007/1072/Opinion]
Prof. Abdulaziz Al-Tarb
Many young African countries have understood well the rules of the state; however, they obtained their independence four decades ago or more, particularly in the eastern and western parts of the Dark Continent. They have established proper democratic systems and entered advanced stages of the peaceful transfer of power in a way provoking surprise, respect, and consideration.
On the contrary, no similar experience has been seen in the Arab countries, except for a few such as the Mauritanian type where the African style is more prevalent than the Arab style. This nation managed to understand well the broad democratic system while most of the Arab states stumbled in the middle of the path and proved unable to cope with any international developments and regional changes. They couldn't complete the course toward real democracy until the end. They have a formal democracy without any real content until the majority of political slogans have turned into periodic propaganda for the local consumption. We are trying to resolve such a challenging issue through the following:
Democracy doesn't mean the electoral process only. Rather, it is a complete system that has something to do with culture and education, as well the equal opportunity, human rights, law and order, and other issues, which have become a main topic for daily discussions at different levels. Therefore, we find that many political practices and official rituals began to lay down the curtain on the existing gap because the political will is still missing amid the absence of the peaceful transfer of power. This matter doesn't receive the required attention in the political arena of the Arab world.
The nations, which have ancient heritage and rich history, often lose the ability to build a political type with the western style since they have no reasonable reference to consult. By the end of the day, these nations discover that they wasted their history and can't invest any ruins of their history.
The new states are more able to benefit from the modern experiences and start taking a new path after completing the first one. They are not confined by chains of the past and can make use of the available heritage. These states cope with demands of the time and establish parliaments with most modern systems. They attempt to erase any bad consequences left by the foreign invasion and don't have the historic experience and national memory that take them backwards. In my opinion, this is the complex of the decade and a democratic problem we are experiencing in the Arab world.
The phenomenon of correlating religion with politics helped complicate the issues, as the Muslims have not joined the political process with its complete legal form in most of the Arab regimes. In addition, they have not established a good contact for comprehensive discussion to cover all the Islamic currents as part of the political process. They have become part of the problem, and not part of the solution. This, to a great extent, interprets the political disorder prevailing the region and hindering progress of the democratic process.
Matching between power and wealth in the Arab world constitutes a risky phenomenon at all levels because this means a correlation between governance and money. It always put businesspersons on the frontline of the society. These businesspersons forget about the fact that the majority of Arab social groups in the non- oil producing countries suffer limited incomes, scarce services and resources, as well as high unemployment rates, which people face difficulty suggesting possible solutions to. All these issues ultimately take us to the famous proverb, which says: “The one who doesn't have enough food for his/her day is not free.” The economic democracy usually leads the political democracy. In the meantime, the social justice is very essential for the social stability and solidarity. From this point, the economic aspect of the democratic issue is a dominant dimension, the influence and significance of which can not be reduced or ignored.
We raise these points for discussion while we speak about the false and unwise policies, the pause at the middle point of the path and the transfer of any democratic data into decoration, whose influence is limited to its existence. Such a situation made the political reforms the most persisting issue in the Arab region. All peoples in the Arab and non-Arab countries have to bear in mind that democracy is an expensively political authority and is not exportable or importable since it has something to do with communities' identities and people's culture.
Although we admit that there are neither specific principles of democracy nor rules for the democratic practices, democracy is closely related with nations' privacies, civilizations and cultural heritages. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't walk on the course toward democracy under the pretext of the subjective experiences and talk about privacy or overstating the definition of identity. I beg the readers' pardon to discuss the following remarks.
Resolving the issue of complete and proper representation of all the political forces in the Arab communities is the only approach to the contemporary gate. We cannot talk about the future in the absence of complete political representation for all the political factions because we cannot imagine that existing forces have no popularity. However, the real forces enjoying great popularity have no access to equal political representation. Remarkably, most of the Arab regimes lack real popularities and suffer various crises and political congestions, which prevail some parliaments and constitutional institutions in the region.
The amount of democracy experienced in several countries like Yemen, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Bahrain is not as much effective as the Mauritanian experience. The democratic experience of the Mauritanians confirms that peoples have the power to score victory. It proved that entering the democratic age is possible and that the Arab world is not an isolated fabric, however, it stumbled at the middle point of the march toward democracy.
The role of military institutions and their traditional coalition with the extremist rightists, as a prevalent type in several countries, stopped the democratic growth due to the ruler's strong desire to stay in power for a longer time period under the cover of maintaining stability and enhancing security. The types of Gen. Sawar Al-Dhahab in Sudan & Gen. Mohammed Fal in Mauritania will remain an indication of hope for peoples controlled by the military rulers.
The allegation that democracy is a luxury, which the poor nations are not eligible for, is merely an invented fabrication. The Indian type, representing the biggest democracy in the world, ends such an allegation and proves that the poor nations are more able to exercise democracy and continue the democratic march without any hindrance to their living standards. The democratic system is the only means that help ensuring the constant unity and solidarity of the poor nations.
To sum up, democracy has a very long path and it is not good for any people to pause in the middle point as democracy cannot be divided into smaller parts. Democracy is not a goal by itself. It is a means for good governance, or the so-called the wise administration of the country's affairs. Anyway, we affirm that the relation between democracy, social justice, and equal opportunities is very clear and doesn't need any further explanation. This relation is the base of the strong bond between democracy and status of the law, and helps peoples led a democratic and free life.
Prof. Abdulaziz Al-Tarb is an economist and a professor in Political Science. He is the head of the Arab Group for Investment and Development
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[archive-e:1072-v:15-y:2007-d:2007-07-30-p:opinion]
