Regime Change Needed in the Muslim World
By Dr. Ghulam M. Haniff
Emboldened by the quick victory in Iraq the United States is now targeting Syria. Charges have been made against that country and warnings issued by the top architect of the war Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Just a day later Colin Powell also chimed-in with allegations of his own declaring that he will visit Damascus “for discussions.” One suspects that it is only a matter of time before Syria is invaded.
There is no question that time for democratic political change has come to the Muslim world. The Islamic dominion is the only geographic region of the world to be ruled today by some of the most decrepit dictators and tyrants. The oppressive regimes must be dismantled and some form of representative government, with broad participation, to be put in place.
The real issue is whether this change will be internally generated, voluntarily undertaken in the interest of its citizens, or be forced upon the rulers by the U.S. military.
Regime change is a pressing necessity in almost every Muslim country given atrocious human rights records, corruption and repressive rulers. The need for change is most urgent in the entire Arab region where every government is mired in medieval political practices. It is as though the 20th century has passed them by without affecting their political systems in the least.
A number of Muslim countries have made some progress in instituting representative governments and these would be the exceptions for regime change. At the top of the list would be Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan where open, free and competitive elections have been held according to international standards. In each of these the role of the military, with its insurmountable level of influence, is a problem but that could gradually be curtailed as democratic institutions are strengthened.
Democracy has thrived for some time in Malaysia and Bangladesh where free elections have resulted in multi-party parliamentary bodies, and human rights of individuals have been respected. These countries are also known for the existence of free press as well as unimpeded activities of voluntary associations. In fact, promising civil societies have emerged in all the five nations mentioned.
The open political orders taking root in these countries are a cry from the democracies of the West but they are headed in the right direction. All the paraphernalia associated with a modern state, parliamentary bodies, political parties, elections, civic associations, independent judiciary and the rule of law have come to fruition. These, though, need to be firmly institutionalized in the social fabric and stabilized.
The rest of the Muslim world is another matter. Every one of the Arab countries needs a regime change, perhaps a violent one, to be replaced with freely elected governments. Externally instigated change, as in the case of Iraq through American military invasion, is a model that ought not to be dismissed lightly.
The repressive regimes in the Arab world, from Oman to Mauritania, are so firmly entrenched that it is difficult to imagine how these could be replaced. Each ruler is just another version of Saddam Hussein, tyrannical, repressive and brutal. The denial of human rights, imprisonment and torture are the norms widely followed.
The governments of every Arab country resemble the mafia with thugs in control of the state. Each one has made running the government into a family business. There is neither accountability nor transparency. The state treasury is the personal kitty of the ruler from which funds are siphoned-off to the individual’s overseas accounts.
Almost in every one of these nations the government has become a family dynasty. Just as Saddam’s designated successor was his son, Uday, and, Hafez al-Assad named his son, Bashar, to succeed him, Husni Mubarak and Muammar Qaddafi are grooming their sons to take over when the time comes.
No one even pretends to establish participatory form of government. Just like the former Shah of Iran, each despot of the Arab world is convinced that he is born to rule and no one has any right to interfere with what the ruler does. The people don’t count; they are merely subjects without any rights, to be controlled by the police for the glory of the ruler.
Saddam Hussein is history. No doubt, every Arab despot is shaking in his sandals and ought to be tossed on the same garbage heap of history. Perhaps, the process has already begun with Iraq. What happens to Syria will determine its momentum.
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