Ould Bilal: Democracy in the Arab world was not a popular demand

Al-Akhbar (Nouakchott) Mohamed Vall Ould Bilal, president of the Arab Organization for Election Administrations, said democracy in the Arab world was not “a public demand from the depth of society and its culture , but rather the result of global transformations, which imposed themselves on everyone. “

This came in a speech he gave at an international conference organized by the European Center for Middle Eastern Studies in cooperation with the Arab Organization for Election Administrations.

Ould Bilal underlined that these global transformations which were essential obliged “the dictatorial regimes to accompany them and to accept a form of multiparty system and to call for competitive elections”.

Ould Bilal asked if democracy could be reduced to the ballot box before responding in the negative, stressing that the key to democratic transformation lies in the dissemination of civil consciousness and democratic culture through choice, behavior and practice.

A number of officials, experts and researchers from regional organizations, academic institutions and various research centers in the Arab region attended the conference.

The conference, which lasted February 18 and 19, 2021, will be held via a virtual platform, at the initiative of the European Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and with the support of the Arab Organization for electoral administrations.

The agenda for this conference included many issues, “including the complementary relationship between elections and democracy, between electoral consciousness and democratic consciousness, between electoral systems, forms of government and methods of voting” .

In addition to the problems of democratic transition, electoral violence, the tribal factor, the effect of proportional voting systems on the multiparty system and the political representation of women.

In addition to the role of young people in the electoral process and the role of electoral administrations in ensuring the integrity, transparency and credibility of the electoral process