Updating the Arab order
By
Mahmoud Murad
Reform of the Arab League will be the key issue for Arab leaders at the summit scheduled to take place in Tunis during the first week of March 2003. Heads of state at the Tunis Summit will have to address the shortcomings of the current Arab order and consider possible solutions.
All serious ideas for reform must be based on revising the applicable Arab League mechanism that is still perceived by most Arab capitals as the umbrella encompassing all forms of collective Arab cooperation. Revision of this pan-Arab organisation that still operates based on its 1945 founding principles is necessitated by the challenges and threats of new regional and international realities.
Awareness of the need for reform has been gaining momentum during the past few months. Indeed, a number of Arab states including Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan and others have forwarded proposals for reform of the Arab order.
Recently, Egypt provided a comprehensive proposal for the reform of the Arab order, with focus on overhauling the Arab League. This Egyptian initiative includes serious ideas for amendment of the over 50-year old Arab League charter in an attempt to facilitate collective decisions by Arab countries and also honouring the commitments Arab countries make during Arab summits more compelling.
The Egyptian proposal also provides for the establishment of an Arab Shura (consultative) Council, a dispute settlement mechanism and an Arab Tribunal. Furthermore, it stresses improved Arab cooperation as a key factor in the stabilisation of inter-Arab relations.
Consultations are currently under way to examine this and other proposals so that when Arab leaders meet at the summit next spring they can make fundamental decisions to rectify the deficiencies of the current Arab order.
* This week's Soapbox speaker is deputy editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram
