Ayoon Wa Azan (Democracy does not deserve its name)

Democracy in the Arab world resembles a mule (pardon my language), in that it has no pure parentage and no future. For instance, according to what I know about the experiences of Arab countries after independence, Syria knew only three or four years of democracy in the 1950s. I understand that many people do not agree with me, but this is my opinion and I insist upon it. This did not prevent me from attending, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, a session attended by five Arab prime ministers from Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya and Palestine, preceded by a session titled “Is Democracy Winning?”, which saw the participation of my friend Amr Moussa, Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu and U.S. columnist Thomas Friedman. During that session, Moussa, the former Secretary-General of the Arab , said that the current Egyptian President came to power through free elections, but added that what is needed is continuous democracy because people want a better life, and democracy is not just a ballot box. Davutoglu said that if the meeting was held two years ago, no one would have dared predict regime change in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. The Turkish FM also argued that the Arab peoples had broken the barrier of fear, and were fighting to defend their dignities, but said that the path ahead will be a long one. Friedman reminded the audience that democracy means self-determination, the right to vote, freedom and institutions that protect the rights of individuals and an independent judiciary. He also noted that democracy needs an independent press and active opposition, which is not available in Egypt so far. At the meeting of the prime ministers, Moroccan PM Abdel-Ilah Benkiran complained that Westerners demand democracy from the Arabs, but when democratic elections are held and the Islamists win, they protest. Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil said that democracy needs time before becoming entrenched, and talked about the upcoming parliamentary elections in April. He then admitted that Egyptians have a lot of expectations, and that the country needs help from within the region and beyond to meet the aspirations of the people. The Prime Minister of Lebanon Najib Mikati said that democracy means freedom, good governance and transparency, and that we must have the right culture to foster democracy. The Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, in turn, addressed the issue of dealing with people's expectations, and said that our countries suffer from a lack of a culture of democracy and called for this to be addressed. I find that this explains the reality of the nation, since the notion of democracy for the majority is that it is something that should reflect their own opinion. This has no room for opposition or dissent, and this is why when free elections are held and the results are not what one desires, he often screams “foul.” The talk about democracy went beyond the scheduled sessions of the WEF meeting, to the private discussions that took place in between. While I hope that the Arab Spring will lead us to democracy, I withhold my judgment until further notice, and say today that the Arab uprisings began in autumn, and then winter came causing the convoy of democracy to derail because of the rain. Now, I am waiting for these uprisings to cast off the muds of winter, and resume moving in the right direction. In the meantime, I am more concerned about the economy than democracy in Egypt. There, the economy has stalled, and the Egyptians are suffering every day. There does not seem to be a quick solution in the offing. Democracy does not deserve its name if people go hungry. I said to brother Hisham Qandil at a dinner that I accept half of what he said or more, but that I in Egypt do not support either the government or the opposition, but only the Egyptians. I noticed that he appreciated the magnitude of the economic problem facing the country. However, we talked on the back of lawlessness and dozens of dead and wounded in Egypt, which barely comes out of one crisis when another begins. The remarks by the Egyptian PM in the public sessions and our subsequent conversation restored some of my hopes in the future […]. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.