The Arab Spring that began in Tunisia and sparked a regional upheaval did not actually finish well for many countries in the MENA region. Was there a real change?
Let us start with Algeria – a republic controlled by the army – an oil rich country where the population is suffering economically. President Bouteflika was used by the army as a façade while being in a wheelchair in a vegetative state. Daily demonstrations are still ongoing asking for a change. Algeria is also an instigator of instability in North Africa by financing the terrorist POLISARIO front that claims the existence of a republic in the Moroccan Sahara.
In Tunisia after Ben Ali was ousted, Tunisians were looking for something new and chose an Islamist government.
Libya was taken over by ISIS. The country is divided by many political factions and external powers such as Russia and Turkey are getting involved in its internal affairs.
Same case for Egypt where the Egyptians chose an Islamist government that did not meet their real expectations. The current government of El Sisi is not seen as fair and democratic by many and does not meet their anticipations.
In contrast many monarchies in the region did not see any upheavals. Many of them worked for many years prior to the Arab springs on issues such as economic development, human rights, inclusion of women and most importantly the inclusion of all minorities and factions.
Many might define monarchies as undemocratic but the real question to be asked is if democracy is scalable. When we think about democracy, we specifically think about the American democratic model that actually is losing some steam in America itself. Each region or country needs its own engineered democratic model that takes into consideration the cultural, religious and ethnic contests.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took several realistic measures directly after the Arab Spring including direct payments of more than 100 billion dollars to its citizens, facilitating home loans and an increase in government workers’ salaries. As with the other monarchies in the region, the Al Saud used their networking power to solidify their relationship with the different tribes and clans. Saudi nationals also started getting used to “Democratic” institutions for their needs. Many of their demands are now being processed bureaucratically without the need of connections with higher ups.
Jordan is a reliable bulwark for many of its allies in the region. It had its own popular protest back in 2011, but the open-minded King Abdullah was always on the lookout for upcoming challenges.
The country does not have many resources and has been suffering from both very high unemployment and high debt.
During his speech at the European Parliament in 2012 he said that “We’ve embraced the Arab spring as an opportunity, “after Jordan had reformed its constitution. He explained that through the different reforms, Jordan aims to be a haven in a stormy region.
He actually did this with financial help from some GCC countries who are also concerned with the regional stability and a social compact that re-balances the relative powers of the king and the different tribes.
Morocco, on the other hand, was almost immune from the popular :Hirak.” Reforms were started back in the late 90s by the late King Hassan II.
King Mohammed VI assumed the throne in 1999. Following his father’s footsteps, he launched a series of changes including the establishment of a new system of elections, women’s rights’ laws and the officialization of the Berber culture and language. King Mohammed VI formed many consultative bodies and establishments to further modernize state institutions.
All these gradual early reforms led to fewer violent episodes during the Arab spring and did not result in a regime shift.
Many of these regimes may be targeted by organizations for human rights’ violations but in reality these so called violations are being committed by many other western countries and are being unnoticed by media.
These same organizations are overlooking the violation of freedom of assembly, excessive use of force and discrimination in many western countries.
There is a need to redefine democracy by context to move forward with positive change. Many may think that change must start with violence such as the French Revolution but sometimes that same violence may be permanent.
The writer is an economic consultant and educator based in Morocco.