BEIRUT — Two very different political reform initiatives this week may point the way to a more sensible and humane Arab political order, and thus also a more legitimate and sustainable order than the existing tabbouleh salad mixture of mild and severe police states, gangster fiefdoms, private tribal domains, and free-for-all shopping malls masquerading as sovereign states.
The two efforts worth watching:
* the decision by leading Lebanese politicians to mobilize their supporters to force the resignation of President Emile Lahoud, seen as a bitter and divisive symbol of the former Syrian dominance of the country; and
* an Arab Reform Initiative launched by half a dozen leading Arab research centers and think tanks, working closely with European and American colleagues.
These are important initiatives because they emerge from two sources in society — independent civil society groups and elected parliamentary majorities — that have been relatively docile in recent decades due to the overpowering dominance of the heavy-handed modern Arab security state. The idea that citizens of a country can initiate significant change to reform the exercise of political power, in a peaceful manner, is revolutionary in the Middle East, and long overdue.
The Lebanese case focuses on the person of President Lahoud, whose 6-year term was extended by another 3 years in 2004 by a Lebanese parliament that was directly controlled by Syria at that time. Lebanon’s forced docility changed dramatically after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri a year ago, when waves of popular protest saw a million Lebanese in the street demand that Syria’s army leave their country. Which it did. President Lahoud remains in power, but is widely seen as both illegitimate and ineffective.
On the first anniversary of the Hariri murder February14, nearly one million Lebanese again gathered in central Beirut to demonstrate their determination to remain free and sovereign. They also insist on discovering the truth about who killed Hariri and other media and political figures who were murdered in car bombings during the past year.
The legitimate parliamentary majority’s decision to mobilize its massive public backing and focus it on ousting Lahoud and re-legitimizing the Lebanese presidency, via constitutional and political measures through parliament rather than through street rallies, is a historic test of the modern Arab political order. If it succeeds — and my sense is that it will, but perhaps not by the March 14 deadline that has been set — the Arab world will have a valuable precedent that might inspire others to re-legitimize their own political systems through peaceful, democratic, constitutional and judicial means. Freedom and democracy fans around the world should watch and quietly support this crucial political process.
The other important new effort this week was the official launching of the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI), after a year of quiet meetings and preparatory work. The ARI is a network of independent Arab research and policy institutes, with partners in the United States and Europe designed to:
mobilize Arab research capacities to generate knowledge by those who are the prime targets of reform; nurture and promote realistic and home grown agendas for democratic reform; foster collaboration between Arab non-governmental institutions; inform and engage political leaders, intellectuals and active representatives of civil society and produce policy recommendations.
That’s about as ambitious as it gets in this reform business, which has been a peculiarly ineffective but robust industry in this region for the past decade or so.
Dozens of reform initiatives, conferences and agendas have been organized, but little real reform has happened in any Arab country beyond administrative changes making it easier to get a hunting license, renew a passport, or open a restaurant. This is because incumbent Arab governments and power elites have hijacked the reform debate, and have successfully stalled any real change in the exercise of power.
If elected politicians are the engine that pulls Arab political change (such as ousting Lahoud) think tanks and civil society groups are the caboose providing essential services from the other end of the train. The two must work together in order to achieve success.
The ARI comprises credible research centers from North Africa, the Levant and the Gulf region that focus on identifying the content and modalities of a heretofore vague reform process. How to start? Which forces to mobilize? What obstacles are to be overcome? The initiative seeks to promote a comprehensive vision of reform that integrates the interaction between the political, economic, societal and cultural spheres, while recognizing the diversity of situations among countries of the region and also raising awareness in the Arab region about successful transitions to democracy in other parts of the world. It hopes to achieve these goals through collaborative activities such as policy briefs, thematic and country studies, public opinion surveys, workshops and conferences, and occasional task forces, all aiming to formulate policy recommendations that can advance reform in the Arab world.
The website has more information and is worth a visit (www.arab-reform.net).
Rami G. Khouri is editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper, published throughout the Middle East with the International Herald Tribune.
Copyright ©2006 Rami G. Khouri / Agence Global
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Released: 17 February 2006
Word Count: 819
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