The governance crisis in the Arab world

It is the most dangerous crisis ever in the Arab region. Its manifestations and manifestations touch the lives of almost all human beings who live in this part of the world. On the contrary, it eclipses the lives of those who grow up there and leaves it to the vast land of God..

It is not difficult to draw a line between what is happening in Iraq of political and authoritarian instability, social explosion and terrorist violence, and what is happening in Lebanon of state collapse and disintegration. of society, institutions and the economy in a country that has lived without a government for over a year … and what is happening in Tunisia? A protracted crisis between the components of governance erupted weeks ago. It’s hard not to see a common thread between Syria, Yemen and Libya, each suffering in its own way from a civil war. In Yemen, the war produced the worst humanitarian crisis on earth today, and in Syria, the war led to the worst thing a country has ever faced: the loss of sovereignty and political independence after have divided the geography of the country into spheres of influence subject to foreign armies, as well as the exodus of nearly a third of the country’s population.

The dividing line and the common point between all these situations, despite their disparity in severity and level of disaster and suffering, is the crisis of governance. This crisis can break out in the form of a civil war (as in Syria, Yemen and Libya), or in the form of a complete political blockage (Lebanon and Tunisia), or in the form of a severe conflict. between the elites who paralyze state institutions and hamper the movement of society and the economy (Iraq and Lebanon). ), or in a context of difficult and turbulent political change (Algeria, Sudan).

The governance crisis is not limited to the countries mentioned, but rather encompasses all countries in the Arab region, almost without exception. However, it does come out in crude footage in countries that suffer from a dangerous mix of social explosion, economic paralysis and security weakness, while in other countries that are not – at the present time – the appalling manifestations of the crisis, as they remain able – either through institutional cohesion or financial abundance – to surround it and suppress its manifestations. However, the factors of the governance crisis remain latent and delayed, even in those countries which enjoy stability and growth..

If the manifestations of the crisis are clearly visible and do not need to be explained, then its essence may not be so clear. The manifestations of the crisis are linked to the daily life of people and the hardships they endure from life, while its deep and submerged essence remains increasingly complex and complex..

It is easy, for example, to monitor the electricity crisis which has plunged the major Arab capitals into obscurity. In Lebanon, power cuts exceed 22 hours a day, as the country is unable to reform the sector, which costs the treasury $ 2 billion a year, and has accumulated losses of up to $ 40 billion since. the 1990s. As for Iraq, the second largest producer of crude oil in the Arab world with an average of 4.6 million barrels per day, it has suffered from a lack of electricity supply for years, and it is important to electricity from Iran on unfair terms. At the end of last year, a committee formed by the Iraqi parliament concluded that $ 81 billion had been spent in the electricity sector since 2005 (!!), and without a significant improvement in service. (I am opening an arc here to point out that Egypt has achieved an electricity surplus of between 26 and 38,000 megawatts, indicating a huge distinction between countries experiencing severe crises without the will to resolve or the capacity to deal with them, and other countries that have been able to mobilize the political will and institutional firmness to face stressful situations and find solutions to them).

The electricity crisis that has plunged Arab cities into obscurity is a dangerous symptom of a deeper crisis, the crisis of governance. In the case of Iraq and Lebanon in particular, the devastating impact of the state of political paralysis and corruption accompanying a parliamentary system based on elections and sectarian quotas is clear. And if some think that sectarianism and external (Iranian) influence provide an explanation for the poor conditions in these two countries, how to explain the institutional and political deterioration and the degradation of living conditions in Tunisia, a country which benefits from a complete demographic and sectarian regime Does he have symptoms of sectarianism?

Moreover, Tunisia and Libya are not far from democratic practice. Amid the deteriorating situation in Libya, many forget that this country successfully organized two electoral elections in 2012 and 2014. As for Tunisia, it sets an example by obtaining a democratic consensus after the 2011 earthquake. The same has been true for Iraq since 2005 and Lebanon, which has been organizing elections for decades..

In the Tunisian case in particular, it is clear that the president’s recent steps to disrupt parliament and freeze its proceedings have sparked desperation and frustration among many hopes for democracy as the only effective remedy for the entrenched governance crisis. The case is that the Tunisian crisis had revealed itself very early on when the Tunisians elected a president who had nothing to do with politics, and had not practiced it in his life, in a clear cry of objection to the practice of democracy which does not achieve a decent life and does not take the country forward one step, but rather leads to its decline and the deterioration of its conditions..

It is clear that democratic practice is not a sufficient or satisfactory response, or a viable and comprehensive solution to the governance crisis. This may lead some to jump to the wrong conclusion that totalitarianism is the only solution to maintain stability and a decent minimum standard of living. This is a bad conclusion because totalitarianism has been tried in our societies for decades and has brought us to where we are. In addition, totalitarianism does not solve the crisis, but suppresses it and prevents its explosion for a while..

The elites, political and cultural, of the Arab world are required to reflect and act to emerge from the dangerous crisis of governance which is aggravated by the presence of a “big elephant in the room” called political Islam. These elites must have the courage to present, because it is not very useful to repeat canned slogans such as “democracy is the solution”. Democracy, in the absence of effective, capable and legitimate institutions, becomes part of the problem and pushes people to adopt comprehensive alternatives to get out of crises and turn the wheel of societies..

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