A case of democracy
President Mubarak has won the elections and believe it or not without fraud , but with all the Propaganda in his side , with 25 years as a living image in the conscious and the subconscious mind of 70 millions poor egyptians and with daily warnings for the nation that unless the people choose him , the future would be dark , very dark even ,Ayman Alzawahiri( the n2 of Alqaeda) is there waiting for this opportunity ,wich opportunity ?!! to see Egypt without Mubarak in order to hijack the power and then declaring the" talibanic" state ,in other words you have the choice between Mubarak and the apocalypse , it's almost impossible to convince the people that Egypt is not Mubarak , that it could be raining without Mubarak , but what to do ? it's the choice of the people even if the level of participation was only 23% , the same people who was claiming freedom of speech , better life , jobs ,but let's not be pessimistic , it's a step or rather two steps " mubarak has gone , mubarak has come back " !!!! ,i know some of our egyptian brothers may say " it's not your buisiness , you're jealous because our corruption is better than yours !!!!", that was always the case in the arab world . i know it's not about changing Mubarak , it's about changing the whole system in the arab world , but what we can do when the people refuse the change ,it's a rule "a corruption you're used to is better than an unknown reform!!!" we still need decades , maybe centuries in our arab world to understand that "better life" is not a wish , it's a mentality , a way of thinking , a decision that comes from within , by the way congratulations Mr president.
posted by boumaaraf at 4:41 AM
6 Comments:
I am an American. We have about 50% of our eligible voters registered to vote. A person must be registered in order to vote. Of the 50% that are registered to vote, about 1/2 of them actually do vote. That makes an approximate 25% participation rate in a Western Democracy. We have a saying here: Democracy, use it or lose it.
It is significant and encouraging that there were elections in Egypt. Intelligent, working people simply must have a say in how their government works and what the government is to do. There can be no major progress in any nation if the working people do not have a say in how things are to be done.
Welcome my friend and thank you for your comment,i understand your point about the level of participation and democracy ,but what i was trying to say in the article is that the circumstances of these elections was unappropriate for a good start of a democratic era ,the competition was unfair ,the candidates hadn't enough time to communicate with the population ,the majority of debates and news in egyptian tv channels was directed in the same sense ,giving mubarak more support.
"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
-- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials
That was almost 60 years ago. Some things will never change, I guess. How sad. I can't see what you find significant and encouraging in the Egyptian election, goesh. They were a farce, and Mubarak has nothing to do with progress. Nil.
In the American revolution against the British, many Colonials sided with the British and some even fought with the British. The support of the revolution was far from anonymous. The fact that elections were allowed is in and of itself significant. This process cannot be stopped once started. It may take several generations for any degree of real participation to occur, but it will and there has to be a starting point for anything.
As a matter of principle, this assumption cannot be denied. However, a so-called democratic election doesn't mean anything in regards to democratic progress. In fact, if your figure of an approximate participation rate of 25% in the US is correct, democratic elections seem to be highly overrated, if not bothering. As far as your saying goes - you seem to have lost it. Democracy, that is. But then, this is true for many Western democracies, and that's probably why I fail to be encouraged.
Welcome Bunka , for alot of egyptian opponents there is no doubt that Mubarak is preparing his son to be the next president ,Syria has inspired us with this original idea , herediterian republic , why not ? after all it works in Syria ,arab nations are really good when it come to helping each other in the common and sacred fight against freedom of speech and promotion of liberties ,i like your optimism goesh and i hope i'll be wrong .
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