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| Middle East |
| Conference highlights lack of Arab democracy |
| 2002-10-29 |
| A high-profile conference in Cairo, sponsored by a leading Saudi think-tank, saw strong criticism of the failure of Arab regimes to democratize in the face of the shockwaves from the September 11 attacks in the United States. "We are still in an era of dictatorships," complained the speaker of the Jordan's dissolved parliament, Abdel Hadi al-Majali, to loud applause. "We have not managed to separate religion from politics, that's why we have failed." Bravo. That's a statement of the obvious to us, but it's unusual to hear an Arab so it... "Arab parliaments are only there for show," he objected, adding that the "existence of consultative councils or elections does not mean there is democracy." Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was earlier this month credited with 100 percent of the vote in a referendum on a new seven-year term, in an extreme example of the sort of poll which has given other Arab leaders like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali more than 90 percent of the vote. Democracy can be an artificial construct, or it can be a manifestation of individual liberty. If it's artificial, then the rubes will vote the way they're told to vote, or else. If it's a manifestation of individual liberty, then opinion becomes much more closely divided, even while covering a much wider spectrum. But a part of individual liberty is religious freedom, too. Men and women have to be free to make up their minds about most everything, to include what happens to their souls — or even whether to believe they have souls. Take away that liberty to make up one's own mind and you've taken away all liberty. And in Saudi Arabia, like much of the rest of the conservative Gulf, there is only an appointed council to advise the king. He's talking about Taliban West... Even in Bahrain, which this month held its first parliamentary elections in nearly 30 years, the new legislature will share its powers with a second chamber appointed by King Hamad. Kind of like the House of Lords was until very recently... "The Arabs have been talking about democracy for 30 years," said Syrian academic Burhan Ghalioun, who teaches politics in Paris. "But we're still behind and stuck with totalitarian regimes which resort to arbitrary arrests when confronted with those who want to take advantage of their right to free speech." They're your governments, Jack. You have nobody to blame but yourselves. And if one of them's attacked — f'rinstance, Iraq — you all band together to protect him, even the people who bitch about the totalitarian nature of your regimes. I think this is called making your own Hell... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #4 "Saudi think-tank"? Are you still dealing in oxymorons? Come to think of it they don't deserve the prefix - oxy! |
| Posted by: Jack 2002-10-30 05:04:00 |
| #3 Hey, it's not like they chose to have the army seize power in a coup, or have anachronistic royal families put into the seat of power. |
| Posted by: Paul 2002-10-30 01:05:32 |
| #2 Not a bad idea... It's on my list. |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-10-29 18:49:37 |
| #1 Aw, c'mon Fred. I prefer to see the glass as 1/16th full. P.S. Why no Comments link on the poparticle.asp ? |
| Posted by: John B. 2002-10-29 18:41:29 |