The Arab Political Inferno: Lessons in Participatory Decision Making for Africans

By: Richard Ellimah

The inferno of political uprisings that are rapidly spreading in the Arab world has re-ignited international debate over the role of the amorphous body called the “international community” in ensuring effective citizen participation in decision making. Not since the end of the Cold War have there been so much citizen uprisings against regimes that were hitherto thought to be invincible. Watching television these days leaves no one in doubt about the wave of anger and resentment that are only now being fearlessly expressed on the streets of Tunis, Cairo, Amman and Algiers.

A seemingly harmless self-immolation of a young Tunisian frustrated at his inability to get a job and his subsequent death exploded into a popular uprising, leading to the overthrow of President Ben Ali, in power since 1987. The repercussions of the Tunisian popular uprising have been phenomenal. In nearby Egypt, three people set themselves ablaze, in an apparent warning to the government of impending danger. At this stage, most international commentators doubted the potency of this action and its potential to cause a regime change in Egypt. They cite the strong influence of the army and the support of the United States for the regime of President Hosni Mubarak who has been in power since 1981. But later events have proven that no matter how strong or well equipped an army is they cannot withstand the force of a group of determined people desirous of change.
Interestingly, the Arab world was transfixed on events in Egypt with trepidation to gauge the direction of these popular uprisings. Once President Mubarak addressed the nation and appointed a Vice-President for the first time since 1981 and went ahead to promise political reforms, the stage was then set for a massive shake-up within the ruling political elite in the Arab world. Jordan’s King Abdullah bowed to popular pressure and appointed a new Prime Minister. In Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in power for the past 34 years gave in to protesters’ demands and went ahead to announce that he would not seek re-election after 2013. He also appointed a new Prime Minister. Though unsatisfactory to protestors who are calling for nothing less than his resignation, they mark a significant shift in the response of the regime to popular demands.
The response of the international community to these waves of protests has been interesting. French and American leaders called for “restraint” in Tunisia, and urged the government to “respect the rights of the Tunisian people”. In Egypt, President Obama, in a telephone call to his Egyptian counterpart, called for a “smooth transition”. A careful analysis of all the countries currently undergoing these revolutions indicates a commonality that cannot be ignored.
Let us start from President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. He came to power in 1987 on the back of popular agitations against then President Habib Bourguiba who was accused of being mentally unsound to rule. For the next 23 years President Ben Ali ruled Tunisia with an iron fist, clamping down on popular protests and imprisoning political opponents. Basic human rights like freedom of speech and assembly were denied the ordinary Tunisian. Whiles all these human rights abuses were going on, the West looked on quietly, because of President Ben Ali’s clampdown on Islamist extremists. After the September 11th attacks, Ben Ali became a pawn of the West, receiving massive assistance to flush out suspected militants. So while the ordinary Tunisian was being suffocated under a repressive regime, the US, France, UK, UN all kept quiet, loudly sending a message that the fight against terrorist was more paramount than the rights and freedoms of the individual.
In the case of Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak came to power in 1981 following the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. Sadat had become the first Arab leader to sign a peace agreement with Israel, under the aegis of the United States. Whiles the West applauded this agreement as being progressive, for President Sadat, it became a banana peel, eventually leading to his assassination. Vice-President Hosni Mubarak was then sworn in as President, vowing to deal with Islamist militants and improving relations with the West. True to his word, political groups like the Muslim Brotherhood were banned for almost his entire Presidency. Political opposition was stifled, press freedoms were curtailed and the country was ruled like a military dictatorship. All these happened under the watchful eyes of the United States which continued to provide military assistance to this repressive regime. With time, Egypt became the third largest recipient of American foreign aid and largest in Africa. It became apparent that the American government kept propping up this regime.
Yemen became significant to the international community after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Once reviled for its oppressive regime, the Bush administration provided military assistance to the country due to concerns that militants that had been flushed out in nearby Saudi Arabia had found refuge in that country. For the fight against terrorism to be successful, President Ali Abdullah Saleh needed to be supported at all cost, even it meant the Yemeni leader using the foreign assistance he received to suppress his own people.
Clearly the West cannot deny complicity in the gross misrule that has become characteristic of regimes in the Arab world and parts of Africa. In pursuit of very parochial political agenda, despotic regimes have been imposed on Africans. On the back of halting the spread of Communism, Prime Minister Patrice Lumuba was brutally murdered by President Mobutu Sese Seko at the instigation of Belgium. For more than two decades, this dictator impoverished his people whiles becoming a darling boy of the West. President John F. Kennedy referred to this man as “a great friend of the American people”. In Belgium, President Mobutu was a regular guest of King Leopold. In Ivory Coast President Houphouet Boigny made himself life President and imposed a one party state on the country. Throughout his life, he was a friend of the French and Americans. Interestingly enough, next door, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) overthrew Kwame Nkrumah for making himself life president and creating a one party state. Down south in Angola, the American CIA provided support for rebels fighting the regime of Eduardo dos Santos because he was deemed to be communist. That support led to one of Africa’s most intractable civil wars, ending only with the death of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. Why were the Bush and Obama administrations prepared to cope with the political and religious intolerance in countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Tunisia but were quick to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe for the same “offences”? Why has the Obama administration been quick to condemn the attack on gays and lesbians in Uganda and Zimbabwe but continue to remain silent over the repression of Christians, gays and lesbians in Saudi Arabia?
Unfortunately, Africa has never learnt its lessons as evidenced by the approach that ECOWAS and AU have adopted to deal with the Ivorian crisis. The need for an African response is an absolute imperative. Africans do not need France, the US and Britain, under the guise of international assistance, to dictate any response planned by the African Union to deal with the Ivorian crisis. It is disappointing that already a Presidential delegation has gone to Europe to “confer” with the “international community”. The obvious question is: what interest does the West have in the Ivorian crisis?

The inferno in the Arab world is a clear statement to the west to back off Arabian affairs. The people are clearly making a case for participatory decision-making in national affairs. They have shown that they are more than capable of punishing regimes that ignore their interests in favour of Western powers. The next destination of this wave of revolution is unknown. But what is certain is that by now despotic regimes in Africa are watching and listening with baited breath.

The author is a freelance Journalist and Development Practitioner. He can be reached on 0244 514 559 or richellimah@gmail.com.