Issue No. 607
Opinion
Previous issue
Site map
|
|
10 - 16 October 2002 Issue No. 607 Opinion |
Current issue Previous issue Site map | |
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Winds of change
It's hard to be optimistic about the future of the Arab world -- and I'm not just referring to pitiable international conditions. There is almost nothing being done to modernise Arab societies, stimulate democracy and freedom or encourage people to participate in decision-making. Domestic conditions have stagnated to the point where major countries, such as the United States, are tempted to talk openly of their responsibility for bringing democracy to the Arab world and modernising Arab regimes. Political reform in Palestine has already been made a condition for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. And now, preparations are underway to change the Iraqi regime by force.
All of this makes the democratisation of Morocco an interesting case. Mind you, democratisation is not new to the Arab world. Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt have all tried their hand with democracy, but tripped up somewhere along the way. What happened recently in Morocco provides an example of the potential elections hold -- if fair and free. Many political parties contested the Moroccan elections on equal footing, as the authorities watched from the sidelines, safeguarding the impartiality of the process. Mindful of earlier instances when balloting was tainted by fraud, the Moroccan people were, for the most part, circumspect about the promised probity of the process. Only 54 per cent of registered voters went to the polling stations where they chose from among 26 parties.
An election of this sort in Morocco is a fairly new phenomenon, but it did not occur out of the blue. Back in 1994, the king introduced a rotation system under which opposition parties formed a coalition government led by Abderahman Yousoufi, secretary- general of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces, replacing the pro-palace right-wing parties that became part of the opposition. Yousoufi's government did much to clean up Morocco's image by releasing political detainees, closing down the torture centres, permitting exiles to return, issuing a new law on prison regulations, recognising freedom of the press and expression and upholding human rights.
The defining moment came with the introduction of proportional representation, which minimised the influence of tribal and financial power. The government funded election campaigns in proportion to the number of seats and votes won by each party, with any party winning at least three per cent of the votes qualifying for assistance. To ensure representation by women, parties agreed to run separate lists for them in each constituency. Independent candidates were allowed to contest the elections.
Signalling its intention to hold free elections, the government dismissed the interior minister, who had held the post for 25 years and was known to have been involved in election fraud. The government also allowed civil society organisations to monitor the elections. Officials deemed to be biased towards certain candidates were either given warnings or dismissed.
This month's elections brought to parliament many parties, both small and large, but none came anywhere near achieving the 99 per cent landslide that so infamously brands Arab politics. Yousoufi's Socialist Union came first with 50 seats, down seven from its previous showing. Justice and Development, the only Islamist party contesting the elections, made considerable gains.
By now, it must be abundantly clear that political resolve is essential for a sound electoral system. Such resolve is the decisive factor for political reform. The probity of the electoral process requires reliable safeguards and calls for stiff punishment for those breaching the law. As Egypt's recent past tells us, little is gained by having the judiciary supervise balloting inside the voting centres while fraud and interference are rife outside on the street. I am not saying that the electoral process in Morocco was free from irregularities, but these irregularities were at the hands of contestants -- not the government. This is an impressive achievement for Morocco. And what it tells us is that Arab societies, if given the chance, would find their own way to modernise, with no need for outsiders to meddle.
|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: weekly.ahram.org.eg Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
