The self-immolation of a vegetable-seller in a small town in Tunisia sparked a revolution that took the Arab world by storm. The Jasmine Revolution, which sought to bring change to the lives of millions who inhabit the region, saw the Arab world being thrown to the forefront of the global conscience. In light of the recent events in the region, Gulf News will be organising a three-part debate on Democracy in the Arab world. In our first debate, a panel of polticial analysts and thinkers debate whether the people are ready for a democratic system and all the responsibilities that come with being part of the political system. Join the debate by sending us your views on readers@gulfnews.com
Is the Middle Eastern society tolerant enough to apply democracy?
Fadi Salem
The risk of religious and sectarian tensions when more freedoms are allowed is there, especially when the culture of participation is not established in societies. But, that doesn’t mean that more political participation will lead to more sectarian or religious divide. We have the cases of Iraq and Lebanon, where more participation led to more division but we have other examples, which have indicated that more democratic participation is feasible.
Dr Khalid Al Yahya
The Arab world has so many different experiences with democratic government and political life, so we need to really break down who we are referring to. I don’t accept the generalisation that we are intolerant. I can give you examples of Arabs who live in the US — they change their lifestyle, respect the law and become a part of the communities. But you socialise in a system and an environment. This social education comes from your home, your school, and is facilitated by government policies. So, is this the problem of culture, or the public policy, which is not really introducing some of these concepts?
Taufiq Rahim
When you ask if the Arab world is ready for democracy, I don’t see any difference theoretically between the Arab and Muslim culture and democracy. If you go back into the culture and history of the region, these have been very pluralistic places. That being said, there are going to be a number of challenges in different countries — that is expected and it is not going to be seamless. In every society you have to look at the way the process of democratic evolution takes place and in some places it will be more gradual, in others they have the institutions ready, they have the political parties.
Dr N. Janardhan
To make a transition from dictatorship to democracy must be a gradual process. I also have a fundamental problem with the way the whole protest has been masked. It seems that the primary concern is economic issues, they are not really political. But they are looking for a political solution for their economic woes. Will the political transition be able to address their economic woes? That will be the defining factor for democracy to have a foothold in the region.
Dr Khalid Al Yahya
If you look at the history of Arab world, Arabs are very good merchants, and a good merchant is tolerant — you are willing to compete, and give and take. Unfortunately, if you look at the recent history, in some countries with the state dominating the economy and with corruption seeping in, that distorted the people’s values. But originally, I think the values of compromise and solidarity were there.
Dr N. Janardhan
Fifteen countries in the Arab world were polled just before the uprisings began and were asked whether they would prefer economic reform or political reform. Not surprisingly, a majority of them preferred political reform. But when asked which country they would like to live in between India and China, they preferred China because of the economic development. So, there seems to be a skewed approach of what their real wants and requirements are.
People are not ready to voice their views OR beliefs because that is how they have been socialised.
Dr Khalid Al Yahya
I am an educator and teach critical thinking, I haven’t seen much difference between the students in the US and here in their innate ability to think critically and make choices and shatter assumptions. I have been teaching graduate students, and they even challenge me on issues. So, I have seen it happen. This is why I say that you can teach people to think critically and behave civically. Once you change the social and opportunity structure, people tend to react. You could introduce some content or curriculum through the education system, that allows students to think for themselves and make choices. But you also need to have institutional development along with it.
Dr N. Janardhan
Essentially you are part of the environment. There may have been groups or individuals who wanted to bring about change, but they did not have the mechanism to go about it. We have already begun to talk about how the political changes that happen here do not have to cater to a certain model that already exists. You have to come up with a model that suits the region and perhaps that model will come about with the exchange of ideas and the provision of translating them into action.
Taufiq Rahim
It is unfortunate how the debate around the region is usually framed. People say this region is different, special or exceptional. It has these civilisational backdrops, religious fault lines, it doesn’t have the experience with democracy and liberalism. It focuses on how things are impossible. Why is the Arab world so different that makes it incapable of being democratic? Now, what is the nature of democracy, how can it be built — that is the question that needs to be discussed. Will there be challenges and how can they be overcome? That needs to be discussed. But there is no intrinsic opposition to democratic values. And this is why I think Tunisia was so inspiring for people, because they were able to see and think what is possible.
Fadi Salem
I agree with Taufiq, the questions are always framed according to what the West thinks about the region, it has a tendency of being orientalist in nature. The society today, the young population in the Arab world is more ready to take risks and think about what is possible. Also, there is a powerful comparison of where we stand today and where others are.
Dr N. Janardhan
I think the point is being driven home by the information channels about how far the Arab world has been left behind in a time when development has been the buzz word in much of the developing countries. Egypt and India were at the forefront of the Non-Aligned Movement [during the US and former Soviet Union Cold War] but look at how far ahead India has moved and how far behind Egypt has stayed.
People’s social and civic responsibility is not developed enough for them to participate in democratic processes
Dr Taufiq Rahim
Each society will be different, you will have to look and assess the level of civic engagement, and the level of awareness of civic rights that exist. I think you saw the roots of it when in Tahrir Square in Cairo, you saw people sweeping the square and taking responsibility and understanding what it means to have ownership in society. We are still in the midst of a very messy transition, and I am not sure that we are at that reflective stage yet. There are many things still going on simultaneously. You will have to invest time and resources and work with different sectors to build civic society.
Fadi Salem
There are many layers, factors, parties that would like the status quo to exist. There will be various barriers and many people working against that development towards civic society for different reasons, whether internal or external. Now after Egypt and Tunis, I think it is time to move on from over-romanticising the revolutions and looking at what are the next steps and what are the barriers in reforms. The countries that are going through these changes have probably missed a window of opportunity where the society organically created the change it wants, now moving to many external factors playing into these different countries.
Dr N. Janardhan
I think much depends on the level of satisfaction of the people, and how much they are able to stay put to their cause. And incremental results will determine their engagement in civic and political affairs.
Dr Khalid Al Yahya
It is important to distinguish between democracy and democratisation. It is very difficult to predict how people will react to a new system. You need to have some basic elements such as effective institutions to ensure popular sovereignty and ways in which they will hold leaders accountable. People need to know their rights and be given certain civil freedoms. These are of course context-based but I think we need to think of institutions that are compatible with Sharia, at least with the less secular countries. Another aspect is the rule of law, also to actually go back to the process of elections and how you allow for fair elections that allows for the turnover of leadership. There are other conditions for sustainability of democracy — education, the value of the middle class, homogenous society and the need for political parties to be based on citizenship instead of sectarian differences.
What is the most important requirement to move towards a democratic society?
Fadi Salem
The rule of law, the existence of a society that accepts the rule of law and abides by it, and makes sure the people in power do not abuse it. That will be the basis of the freedom of Press, for electoral law and many other pre-requisites for a civic society. Egypt and Tunisia will be examples of that switch from where the rule of law is actually manipulated into a system where rule of law is above all.
Dr N. Janardhan
To me a lot depends on how much of economic benefits people get. Freedom and democracy are thoughts that appeal to a lot of intellectuals, to an ordinary person, food, clothing, shelter are more important concepts and he or she is going to support any system that will guarantee these basic requirements. It is a dynamic concept, right now it is pregnant with possibliites and people are very hopeful that things will change. But if it does not yield even an iota of what they are expecting, it will taper off after a while.
Taufiq Rahim
Constitution and how it is adopted in an inclusive and popular way. And I think if the constituion is adopted in the right way and is robust, it will determine the rules of the game and promote a stable, sustainable democracy.
Conclusion
- There is no issue of incompatibility between the Arab culture and values of tolerance.
- People are willing to think critically, voice their opinions, even if they are different.
- Developing civic sense will depend heavily on whether there are systems that encourage the values of civic responsibility and engagement.
