Democracy
Democracy has become today one of the key, and possibly the most widely used, words in the Arab media since the recent developments in the Arab region, which have revealed a number of changes in the political arena, including the rise of new groups of liberal political parties and the transformation of organizations and political forces, mostly Ishamist, which were not allowed to form legitimate political entities, to political parties as customarily recognized in civil communities.
That has
been the case in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere, which is a new sign of a
cultural transformation in the concepts of democracy which seem a political act
on the surface but are in essence a new formulation of the concepts of the
civil state and a dialogue among the forces of society about the new
foundations of the desirable democratic rule in the new stage. How can these
new changes be read?
In this
context, the most important event in the political arena in Egypt may be the
announcement by the Muslim Brotherhood of the foundation of a new party, the
Justice and Freedom Party , clear of any religious slogans. This means the
transformation of this movement to a political institution subject to the
concepts and rules of civil society governing political action. Soon
afterwards, some Salafi and other similar groups announced the formation of new
parties, which is an almost consensus agreement by these religion oriented
movements that politics must be subject to the rules of the political game and
the principles of democracy as the worldwide agreed formula for the rule of
human communities.
Questions of the civil state
However,
the integration of these religious movements into the political process through
parties has raised a number of queries by the Arab public about whether these
forces want to transform the communities which have achieved their freedom and
overthrown dictatorial and corrupt regimes into what they call the religious or
religion oriented civil state. Other more direct queries rise doubts about
whether these religious movements seek to employ democracy to establish other
totalitarian regimes using slogans under a religious cover.
It is
clear that the Arab communities who have witnessed these changes are so
preoccupied with these queries that Al-Azhar has put its weight behind an
attempt to readjust such concepts that mix religion with polities, through a
document which the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Dr Ahmad Al-Tayyeb promulgated following
lengthy discussions with many intellectuals of various inclinations in Egypt.
The document has had a tremendous impact among the elite and the general
public, being extremely important in that it defines the relationship between
state and religion and stresses the tolerance and democratic character of true
Islam.
It is
perhaps the first time that Al-Azhar leadership has expressed the need for
differentiating between religion and state and reaffirmed that religious
institutions, including Al-Azhar, should not be involved in political conflicts
and interests. Above all, through this document Al-Azhar has restored its key
role in religious reform and stresses its understanding of religious, cultural
and civilization dimensions, as Dr Al-Tayyeb said upon promulgating the
document: Al-Azhar, the beacon which determines the relationship between state
and religion, and defines the proper Sharia-compliant policy that must be
followed as derived from its long experience and academic and cultural history,
is based on the following dimensions: The jurispridentil dimension in the
revival of religious disciplines according to Sunnis and consensus opinion,
which combines reason and tradition and reveals the approved rules of
interpretation of Sharia texts; the historical dimension of Al-Azhar s leading
role in the national struggle for freedom and in dependence; the civilization
dimension in the revival of various natural sciences and arts; the practical
dimension in leading society s movement and influencing intellectuals in Egypt.
In
addition to this broad vision, the document underlines the need for compliance
with all international treaties and resolutions and adherence to civilization
achievements in human relations in conformity with the traditions of tolerance
in Muslim Arab culture and the Egyptian people s long experience and fine
examples of peaceful coexistence. Similarly, the document stresses utter
respect for the dignity and national honour of the Muslim nation and full
protection of places and freedom of worship for followers of the three revealed
religions and respect for all rituals without discrediting the people s culture
or traditions. In addition, the document reaffirms the need for full protection
of the freedom of expression and artistic and literary creativity within the
framework of our established civilized values.
It is
worth noting that in its new document, Al-Azhar highlights the role of science
in the future of the Arab world, especially Egypt as it underlines the need for
regarding education, research and entering the knowledge age the leader of
development in Egypt and devoting every effort to make up for what is lost in
these areas, and mustering all society s full potential for the eradication of
illiteracy, investing in human resources and implementation of major investment
projects.
In point
of fact, the document came at the right time as it promotes a key idea, or more
exactly, sends a message to the religious movements which decided to enter the
world of political parties that all political forces, including the liberals,
understand well that these religious movements have suffered a lot of arrests
and persecution under he former corrupt regimes and therefore have the right to
practise politics.
Contradictory slogans and applications
But we
would reaffirm here that politics should only be engaged in through a civil
framework that gains the trust of all sections of society and be a model of
equality among all citizens and belief in democracy and freedom. Politics
should not just be a matter of slogans but should set an example of democracy
through management of the internal affairs of the new parties and the election
of leaders through the ballot box.
In this
new stage which witnesses the emergence of democracy, Arab citizens should not
be subject to pressures of a religious nature, particularly in view of the fact
that Arab societies are devout or innately religious, and using the power of
religion to influence them in favour of a particular political force is a
continuation of negative practices of pressures-sectarian or tribal. Some
political forces in certain countries use the power of sect, religious fervour
or tribe to force a particular scene on power. All this contradicts the two
essential principles of democracy: freedom and equality.
The next
stage will witness the drafting of a number of new constitutions in Egypt,
Tunisia, Morocco, Syria and other countries which should give high priority to
all the above-mentioned ideas of freedom and equality so that their
constitutions may really express democratization and carry Arab societies to a
new age to catch up with the new world civilization march. Arab citizens in the
final analysis are only keen to achieve their freedom and work efficiently to
earn their livelihood and secure education, good health care and decent living
conditions for themselves and their families. This is the purpose of
establishing democratic communities where the rule of law reigns with no
discrimination among citizens.
However,
as the signs of the new religious forces which appeared in the Arab political
arena show, these ideas are still in question. Clear evidence of this is the
current disagreement between leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood (the
organization in control of the branches in most Arab countries) in Egypt and
the Muslim Brotherhood youth, which surfaced during the recent revolution and
intensified when a number of the Brotherhood youth refused to abide by the
resolutions of the Guidance Board not to participate in the so-called Second
Revolution of Wrath on 27 May in Egypt. Such a
disagreement is in fact a conflict of vision and attitudes between two
generations. This is confirmed by Egypt s Brotherhood to nominate Dr Muhammad
Selim Alawwa, member of the Board, to stand for presidential election.
Leaders of
the parties with Islamist agendas, such as the Brotherhood, Salafis and the
like, still manage their organizations in a way that does not allow dialogue
between leadership and base and is based on a carry out and don t argue
principle. This indicates that they are patriarchal parties with a top-down
decision-making process, similar to totalitarian regimes dogmatic approach
which excludes those with divergent opinions.
The Turkish model
There is
a lot of talk today that the religious movements which have formed political
parties tend to emulate the Turkish model, but that can t be ascertained now,
particularly as it has not been applied yet by the parties to their internal
structures.
The
Turkish model, introduced by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan through his
Justice and Development Party has achieved successes and earned the trust of
the public not because it represents the religious movement, as many say,
despite its relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, particularly as laws and
the general environment in Turkey are secular, but because the party through
two previous governments has realized rapid development rates whose positive
impact on citizens welfare and meeting daily needs is obviously felt, in
addition to the party s special relationship with Europe and Turkey s
relationship with the West and its secular trends which separate religion from
politics. The party, at least until now, adheres to the intellectual ideology
of Turkey s secularism.
Accordingly,
the party has not adopted slogans like Islam is the solution or any other
similar loosely religion-oriented slogans, but has launched such development
programmes that, according to published reports, made Turkey the world s 16th
economy, as shown by a number of indicators: GNP rose from $300 in 2002 to $750bn in 2008, a 6.8% growth
rate; per capita income rose from approx. $3,300 to
approx. $10,000 in the same period; Turkey has become one of
the leading countries in terms of attracting foreign investments; exports rose
from $33bn to $130bn at the
end of 2008; inflation and interest rates fell sharply
between 2002 and 2008; the
value of the Turkish lira stabilized and public debt fell to more acceptable
levels. These considerable economic achievements compare only with the
outstanding economic development experiments carried out by East Asian
countries.
As a
result of this effective administration, discipline and ambition, the Turkish
government has earned the trust of the Turkish public through ballot boxes, in
addition to Erdogan s effort to promote Turkey s role in the region,
particularly its relations with the Arabs and their causes, and foreign
relations, as well as his role in securing freedoms and democracy.
Those are
the real reasons which led the public to vote for the party. To express his
happiness that the party has won the trust of many sectors of the people the
party s leader did not talk in a boastful way, never trying to exclude others,
but, on the contrary, calling for a consensus government and constitutional
amendments as Turkey is a nation for all Turks and the constitution must fairly
express all Turkey and not just the party.
The
Turkish model, with its protection of the rights of minorities and democracy
has no parallel in our Arab region. In addition, the model is keen to provide
citizens welfare and freedom, as the party has announced its plan to make
Turkey the world s tenth economy by the year 2023.
Accordingly,
all political forces which emerged in the Arab world following the recent
revolutions should stop wrangling and believe that the ultimate objective
should be their competence and ability to come up with such political
programmes that raise individuals economic and living standards and guarantee
equal rights. There is ample evidence that it is a sign of dictatorship to
provoke sectarian strife, assert its authority and undermine the people s
freedom.
It is
noted that this approach is still followed by opponents of such regimes,
unaware that in this way they look like forms of the same oppressive regimes
even if they speak in the name of religion, nationalism or sectarianism while
they are quite willing to exclude those with divergent opinions, using such
methods are charges of treason or blasphemy.
Today s
political activity and popular rejection of corruption and repression, and the
resulting rise of new liberal political forces, in addition to a widespread
national dialogue about the concepts of the civil state, democracy, citizenship
rights and equality, offer a good opportunity for the new political forces to
think up creative political ideas and methods of party and state administration
in an attempt to accelerate the region s progress and enhance human development
and production plans. This is far away from politicians narrow mindedness as it
focuses on citizens rights rather than adopting religious and sectarian
slogans, which are tools of the same repressive regimes.
There is
a real opportunity today for all Arab peoples to turn to democracy, and we, as
Arab communities, should take full advantage of this opportunity through wide
popular participation by movements of various political inclinations and
formation of new, serious parties which present their views and programmes for
establishing a democratic civil society and leading the development process.
Citizens should be given full freedom of choice between these political forces
which succeed or fail in fulfilling their promises and programmes, without any
emotional, religious or other pressures. This is the only way in which the Arab
nation can cross the ditch of backwardness, weakness and defeat in an attempt
to rebuild Arabs in order to catch up with the march of modern civilization.
Sulaiman Al-Askary
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