Politieke oorgange in die Arabiese wêreld

Dina Shehata

Die jaar 2007 marked the end of a brief interval of political liberalization in the Arab world which began shortly after the occupation of Iraq and which resulted primarily from external pressures on Arab regimes to reform and democratize. External pressures during the 2003-2006 period created a political opening which activists across the region used to press for longstanding demands for political and constitutional reform.Faced with a combination of growing external and internal pressures to reform, Arab regimes were forced to make some concessions to their challengers.In Egypt, upon the request of the President, Parliament passed a constitutional amendment to allowfor direct competitive presidential elections. In September2005, Egypt witnessed its first competitive presidential election ever and as expected Mubarak was elected for a fifth term with 87%of the vote. Verder,during the November 2005 parlementêre verkiesings,which were freer than previous elections, die Moslem-broederskap, the largest opposition movement in Egypt, won 88 seats. This was the largest number of seats won by an opposition group in Egypt since the 1952 revolution.Similarly, in the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, Hamas won a majority of the seats.Hamas was thereby able to establish control over the Palestinian Legislative Council which had been dominated by Fatah since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1996. In Libanon, in the wake of the assassination of Rafiq Hariri on 14th February2005, 'n koalisie van pro-Hariri politieke magte kon deur breë-gebaseerde massamobilisering en eksterne ondersteuning Siriese troepe dwing om uit Libanon te trek en die pro-Siriese regering om te bedank. Verkiesings is gehou, en die 14de Februarie-koalisie kon 'n pluraliteit van die stemme wen en 'n nuwe regering vorm.In Marokko, Koning Mohamed VI het toesig gehou oor die instelling van 'n waarheids- en versoeningskomitee wat probeer het om die griewe van diegene wat onder die bewind van sy vader mishandel is, aan te spreek. Die Golf Samewerkingsraad lande (GCC) ook onder het 'n paar belangrike hervormings tydens die 2003-2006 tydperk. In 2003 Katar het vir die eerste keer in sy geskiedenis 'n geskrewe grondwet afgekondig. In 2005 het Saoedi-Arabië vir die eerste keer in vyf dekades munisipale verkiesings byeengeroep. En in 2006, Bahrain held parliamentaryelections in which the Shiite society of AlWefaqwon 40%of the seats. Subsequently, the first Shiitedeputy prime minister in Bahrain was appointed.Theses events, which came to be known as ‘the Arab Spring,’ led some optimists to believe that the Arabworld was on the brink of a democratic transformation similar to those experienced in Latin American and Eastern and Central Europe during the 1980s and1990s. Egter, in 2007, as political liberalization gave way to heightened polarization and to renewed repression,these hopes were dispelled. The failure ofthe openings of the 2003-2006 period to create a sustained momentum towards democratization can beat tributed to a number of factors. The deteriorating security situation in Iraq and the failure of the United States to create a stable and democratic regime dampened support for democracy promotion efforts within the American administration and reinforced the views ofthose who held that security and stability must come before democracy. Verder, the electoral successes of Islamists in Egypt and in Palestine further dampened Western support for democracy promotion efforts in the region since the principals of thesemovements were perceived to be at odds with the interestsof theWest.

Filed Under: EgipteBesteHamasJemaah IslamiyahMoslem BroederskapPalestinaStudies & OndersoekSirië

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