Arab democracy?
To those of you who have been hailing the uprisings in the Arab world as a sign of budding democracy, much like the "people power" demonstrations that took place in the Phillippines that removed Pres. Marcos from office, maybe you should be a little more patient. I submit that it is no coincidence that there is no democratic country in the Arab world (out of 22), and very few in the Muslim world as a whole.
After repression for 30-40 years by dictators such as Mubarak (and before him Nasser and Sadat) and Libya's Muammar Qaddafi, the Arab peoples are ripe for change. But, what is that change to? In Egypt, after all the hoop-la is over, power still resides in the Army, that is exactly where the previous dictators hailed from, all of them, Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak were military men, and the core of the National Democratic Party (they always use the word "democracy" when establishing a dictatorship) has always been the Egyptian officer corps. Of course, the current Army Council under Gen. Tantawi, that rules Egypt has stated that they will hold elections in 6 months, but you can't build a democracy in such a short time, and you can't build democracy on the basis of one election, as shown in Communist Russia, Nazi Germany, Islamist Iran and Hamas Gaza. In the West it took hundreds of years.
What does a country need to become a true democracy? They need an independent judiciary, a free press, independent political parties, a neutral elections commission, a neutral and effective police force, a non-political security service, a group who are prepared to be a loyal opposition and a new constitution. But, Islamic culture has never been adapted to such structures, it has always had an autocratic system, whereby the Caliph, or whoever was the ruler, was both the political and religious leader. All power rests in his hands and he knows who is innocent or guilty. There has never been a separation of powers in Islam, nor a devolution of power to civil society and neither has there been any kind of reformation that dissolved the power of the religious hierarchy.
The main influence for change has in fact been western influence, even though the religious hierarchy has resisted it very strongly. The mainly young populations in Egypt and elsewhere know about the West through their constant access from movies, television, e-phones, facebook and twitter, but their exposure is superficial. The dictator's time may be over, but can you build a democratic society on the basis of twitter?
In Tunisia, the power of the people was able to persuade the Armed forces to replace the Prime Minister, who was a holdover from the previous dictatorship, and to promulgate a new constitution, but so far there are no elections, although Tunisia is very Francophile, so "liberte, egalite et fraternite" means something to them. But in Libya, there is in effect a civil war underway, and noone can predict where it will end. And elsewhere in the Arab world the powers of reaction are retrenching, in Yemen, Jordan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. It may be that an Arab country could become a true democracy and respect the rights of minorities, but so far such a thing has not been seen in this world. Don't hold your breath!
After repression for 30-40 years by dictators such as Mubarak (and before him Nasser and Sadat) and Libya's Muammar Qaddafi, the Arab peoples are ripe for change. But, what is that change to? In Egypt, after all the hoop-la is over, power still resides in the Army, that is exactly where the previous dictators hailed from, all of them, Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak were military men, and the core of the National Democratic Party (they always use the word "democracy" when establishing a dictatorship) has always been the Egyptian officer corps. Of course, the current Army Council under Gen. Tantawi, that rules Egypt has stated that they will hold elections in 6 months, but you can't build a democracy in such a short time, and you can't build democracy on the basis of one election, as shown in Communist Russia, Nazi Germany, Islamist Iran and Hamas Gaza. In the West it took hundreds of years.
What does a country need to become a true democracy? They need an independent judiciary, a free press, independent political parties, a neutral elections commission, a neutral and effective police force, a non-political security service, a group who are prepared to be a loyal opposition and a new constitution. But, Islamic culture has never been adapted to such structures, it has always had an autocratic system, whereby the Caliph, or whoever was the ruler, was both the political and religious leader. All power rests in his hands and he knows who is innocent or guilty. There has never been a separation of powers in Islam, nor a devolution of power to civil society and neither has there been any kind of reformation that dissolved the power of the religious hierarchy.
The main influence for change has in fact been western influence, even though the religious hierarchy has resisted it very strongly. The mainly young populations in Egypt and elsewhere know about the West through their constant access from movies, television, e-phones, facebook and twitter, but their exposure is superficial. The dictator's time may be over, but can you build a democratic society on the basis of twitter?
In Tunisia, the power of the people was able to persuade the Armed forces to replace the Prime Minister, who was a holdover from the previous dictatorship, and to promulgate a new constitution, but so far there are no elections, although Tunisia is very Francophile, so "liberte, egalite et fraternite" means something to them. But in Libya, there is in effect a civil war underway, and noone can predict where it will end. And elsewhere in the Arab world the powers of reaction are retrenching, in Yemen, Jordan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. It may be that an Arab country could become a true democracy and respect the rights of minorities, but so far such a thing has not been seen in this world. Don't hold your breath!
posted by Jack Cohen at 9:12 PM
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