Arab Regimes are on notice

Thank you MommaBear of http://site-essential.com for sharing an article in AP News that succinctly summarises the plight and thoughts of what must have been going through most if not all the remaining Arab leaders and certainly most Muslim demagogues.

“For the first time, an Arab dictator is being held accountable for his actions. That will encourage the Arab street to be more forceful in pushing for their rights because they now know that it’s not impossible to hold a dictator accountable,” al-Shirian said.

Oppressive Arab governments “must feel unhappy … because they can now see that a society without institutions, human rights and democracy will meet the same fate as Saddam’s regime,” he added.

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“For far too long, governments in the Middle East have moved with all the agility and imagination of a glacier. That will simply not do any longer,” the editorial in the Lebanese Daily Star said.

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“Arab regimes in particular are very concerned that the lesson of Iraq and Saddam would be repeated,” he said. “They are afraid of military intervention. There used to be national sovereignty, but now there is international sovereignty. There is an international police force that can intervene with legal cover or without it.” Aseeri, a political analyst at Kuwait University said.

AP News :: Image of Saddam in Custody a Sobering Sight for Some Arab Rulers

These thoughts were apparent right from the start of the military intervention in Iraq. In 1991 that is! Shame it took another 12 years to bear fruit. The preceding 12 years though were most certainly not used by the Arab regimes who should have seen the writing on the wall and should have instituted changes back then.

I’m glad Bahrain has made some inroads in the process of modernising the system and giving some voice to its people. A lot more is needed however. We are still being effectively ruled by the same crowd for 30 years or more. These people have certainly put a lot of effort in their own ways to modernise the state and we thank them for their sincere efforts. However, it is time to now move on. Anyone who holds a position of responsibility for that long must become jaded and must be replaced.

Our constitution should be amended to take care of these world changes and the new era post-Saddam. It must allow for directly electing the Prime Minister and he should be able to choose his cabinet from the parliament that would establish an equilibrium in the society. At the same time, the constitution should NOT allow a prime minister to rule for more than two terms.

These are basic points on the road to democracy. We should be bold enough to emulate successful democratic systems in the world like France, UK and the USA and mold them to suite our own societies. We shouldn’t just fly the flag of “we are special”. We’re not. If we were, we would be living under a democratic system already and have our own fate in our own hands already.

A friend of mine commented today that Saddam has set a precedent. He is the only Arab ex-president! There is no other. We tend to suffer and wait until our president, king, shaikh, emir, prime-minister to die before we institute change.

He’s very right. But let’s not make Saddam being an ex-president an exception. Let’s make that the rule! Leaders MUST be held accountable to their people, and now, to the international community as a whole.