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[caliph]

http://gulfnews.com/nation/General/10112598.html


General


Published: 21/03/2007 12:00 AM (UAE)

Islamism and democracy
By Mohammed Al Mezel, Assistant Editor



Abu Dhabi: Dr Jamal Al Suwaidi was one of the few people who didn't like what happened in last December's landmark elections of half the members of the Federal National Council (FNC).

Despite the relatively small number of voters, the process was "a setback ... it showed a clear tendency towards tribalism," said Dr Al Suwaidi, Director of the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR).

In an interview with Gulf News at his spacious office at the futuristically designed centre, Dr Al Suwaidi - who is also the political adviser to General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces - said if the election process is to be expanded, "it will perhaps become even more tribal and will take the UAE back at least 50 years."

Tribalism hinders the growth of a civic society, he said, adding that "in the UAE, there are no real civic society organisations. For example, where is the Human Rights Society? It has done nothing since its creation last year. It is just a name, a banner."

The media is in a similar sorry state, said Dr Al Suwaidi. "We have to ask if we really have an Emirati media or just some kind of media in the emirates. It [the media] suffers from self censorship. Everybody talks about the freedom of expression but they never exercise it."

As the interview progresses, the nationally-renowned strategist sounds pessimistic. "I appreciate the step by step process, initiated by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, but we have to admit that it is very difficult to establish a Western-style democracy in the UAE."

Two main principles of such democracy are not feasible in this country, he explains. "The FNC cannot apply the accountability principle or vote [the government] out of office."

Old guard

Also, he believes that for democracy to establish roots here, the "old guard", including himself, "must turn the responsibility over to the new generation. There are young people in their thirties who are conscious of the regional and global changes and have a clear vision about what is taking place. This kind of change will make the UAE a better place."

And another thing, he quickly adds, "it is important, before we speak about democracy, to address the issue of the national identity."

The question of identity seems to be Dr Al Suwaidi's main concern these days. "Who are we? That is the question. I believe that we are Arabs and Muslims before anything. I refuse to play the game of sectarian or ethnic classifications," he explains.

"It seems we don't realise the extent of the problem because economic growth and the rise of oil prices [can cover up many things]. But when the oil prices dip, like what happened in the 1980s, we will be left with this big question: who are we?

"Our young generation doesn't learn that in schools anymore. Our education system is a failure. There is a significant migration from public schools to private institutions. The Ministry of Education talks too much, but does nothing."

Here Dr Al Suwaidi stops to tell a story to stress his point. A few weeks ago he visited the Mall of the Emirates on Dubai's Shaikh Zayed Road and it was a strange experience for him. "I felt awkward as everybody there was staring at me as if I were from another planet. It was because I wore a kandoura."

He said he was the only one at the mall wearing the white Emirati traditional dress. "I was in the middle of a sea of expatriates, many of whom might not have seen something like that before."

He considers that part of the fallout of the vast changes the UAE society has gone through over the past decade due to the amazingly rapid growth in the economy.

"We have developed an identity crisis," he explains, referring to the UAE people.

"Sometimes we feel like strangers in our own country," he says, pointing out that foreigners now constitute more almost 90 per cent of the population - a stark contrast with the officially announced census results which said last year that foreigners represented 79 per cent of the UAE's total population.

Too late

He acknowledges "the danger" of the country's demographic dilemma but says it is "too late" to find ways to solve it.

"The best we can do is to search for ways to how best to co-exist as nationals with the expatriate majority in the UAE," he says.

A similar dilemma that concerns Dr Al Suwaidi is the rising cost of living. He wonders how citizens of "one of the world's richest nations" continue to suffer from "the madness of the price increases".

"Where is the government? What is the role of the FNC? In a free market state, economic laws don't seem to apply. Adam Smith [the British father of modern economics who died more than 200 years ago] died twice, the second time was here in the UAE," Dr Al Suwaidi declared with a bit of irony.

Abu Dhabi Islamism is not compatible with democracy, according to Dr Al Suwaidi. "We must admit that religious currents, like the Muslim Brotherhood, carry a message that enjoys the sympathy of the majority in the Arab world. But if they grabbed power they would send everybody to the gallows. Today, we are stuck between two extremes: the authoritarian regimes on one hand and the Islamist totalitarian opposition," he said.

In the UAE the Brotherhood has a following, he reveals. "But they have yet to interfere in state policies. By nature, the Brotherhood adapts to the surrounding atmosphere. The Brothers in the UAE, hence, are different from those in Egypt or Jordan for example. But they surely have a local leadership in this country, carry public activities and have their own institutions. But in general they act quietly."

A multi-faceted personality

Dr Jamal Al Suwaidi received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin, US, and is Professor of Political Science at the UAE University in Al Ain. He is also a Council Member at Zayed University and a member of the National Media Council. He has written numerous articles on many topics, including Gulf security, perceptions of democracy in Arab and Western societies, women and development, and is a contributing author to a number of political publications.

The Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) was established in 1994 in Abu Dhabi as an independent academic institution to facilitate objective research on key political and socio-economic issues, and developments affecting the UAE and the Gulf.

[harmonious]

Seems a small beacon of hope. Perhaps there is a shift in consciousness taking place.

[veiledsentiments]

And why not? I have read similar analysis over the years to justify elections and/or not having elections - bemoaning tribalism and being a minority amongst all the expats.

Note that he didn't directly criticize anyone...

One question would be to see if the article is also in the Arab press in the same form. Gulf News is the English press and mainly read by expats.

VS

[Shakhbut]

To be fair, he did point to the failure of the education ministry. It's not form to name names, though we get the point.
Good for him, I say, but someone should track his position 6 months to a year from now....will he still be in his post?

[helmsman]

This article is certainly a keeper -- full of radical criticism of the current set up. But what caught my attention even more ws the neighboring article in the print edition entitled "We cannot sit idle watching Iran develop N-bomb". In it he states "Only big countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt are capable of achieving this (a nuclear bomb)." Now that is a view I find most disturbing.

[007]

All what was mentioned in the newspaper is just polishing the �fa�ade� and for local consumption.
I do not think there will be real �Democary� in UAE for the following reasons:

1. The Emirs rule from Birth to Death.
2. the Emir owns the country and its contents (people & Others)

3. Each Emir of Emirates prepares his son for �crownship�

4. No political parties are allowed (only rules of tribes)

5. No freedom of speech

6. The Supreme Council of Rulers appoints the president, prime minister and cabinet

7. political system (if it exists) is corrupt!


8. Nobody, whatever his position could open his mouth to criticize the Emir or his �entourage�
9. etc,etc, etc.

But, we want real democracy, not the US �democracy� model in Iraq!

[helmsman]

007, anybody who's been here a while knows all about your 9 points. What is truly intersting here is that a national is getting up and knocking tribalism and posing questions about the country's identify. Of course the place is not going to be a democracy overnight -- how could it possibly be? The people aren't ready for western style democracy. This academic is a very brave man, and like someone said, how long can he keep his post as head of the ECSSR?

[007]

[helmsman]

I don't see how the Saudis or Egyptians having the bomb would really do much to boost the UAE's security. Those countries have their own security issues to worry about. The last thing we need here is nuclear arms race. Having a nuclear facility might even be an invitation for a preemptive strike as is being considered against Iran's facilities.

[globalnomad2]

Bush thought there was a Thomas Jefferson and an Alexander Hamilton behind every sand dune waiting to implement Jeffersonian democracy (which stipulates very clearly, among other things, a wall of separation between church and state). To make his point, when Jefferson founded the University of Virginia in 1801, he placed the imposing library at the head of the campus--instead of a church. Religion becomes a personal matter, then; a matter of personal conscience. This, to me, is one of the absolutely essential prerequisites for "real" democracy and it will never, ever happen in the Middle East.

[helmsman]

[But, we want real democracy, not the US �democracy� model in Iraq!]

I don�t think the nationals want a real democracy. What they want is a comfortable life, and that is what they have now: well paying jobs that finish at 1:30, free housing, etc. As long as the sheikhs can keep the shababs happy there won�t be any push for democracy, but if there is a serious economic crisis the inequalities become apparent there could be instability.

[colt]

The time of

"comfortable life, and that is what they have now: well paying jobs that finish at 1:30, free housing, etc. "

will be coming to an end sooner than most people think. There will be eco-friendly alternative energy sources coming online in the near future. Western entrepreneurs see the vast profit opportunity in it, so it shall happen. The economy of the country is heading for a meltdown as well. Those �businesses� that really don�t produce anything have �cooked� the books to attract investors, that is heading toward an Enron/Worldcom type scenario. (Emaar investors unhappy with 20% dividend, General Electric's Dividend Yield is 3.23%, which company would you want shares in?)
The real estate �boom�, well if you�ve seen it, you can�t help but wonder how long that can last. Think about this, you buy a �freehold� flat with a 99 year lease, but the life expectancy of the building is maybe 30 years. Then what, you own the �airspace. pie in the sky, sand castles in the air�. How will that be handled?

Yes pilgrims, there will be a "weeping and a gnashing of teeth" in the foreseeable future.

In the film Syriana, the business man tells the sheik, that western business views this as a place where a hundred years ago the lived in the desert and cut off heads and hands, and a hundred years from now they�ll be doing the same thing.

That about sums it up.

A joke among Arabs in the Gulf goes like this:
In Saudi, the royals take the egg and the shell, in the UAE, the people at least get the shell.

[veiledsentiments]

I'd say it will be about 20 years before the eco-friendly systems start to make much of a dent in oil demand because of the growth of India and China to absorb any demand lessening by North America and Europe.

The 100 year idea is probably about right...

VS