Gurumurthy Kalyanaram - The Middle-East political revolution began in Tunisia, then to Egypt, Libya and now to Syria.
The wave of freedom quest in the Middle-East is too evident and obvious – we have called it the Arab Spring. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram Lawsuit
However, now the Arab Spring appears to be clouded. Tunisia recently elected its constituent assembly. A general election under the new constitution is expected to be held in late 2012 or early 2013.
The winners in the constituent assembly are candidates affiliated to Islamist party, Nahda, which is led by Rachid Ghannouchi. Nahda secured 41 percent of the assembly seats. The new prime minister is Hamadi Jebali of the Islamist party.
Jebali has spent substantial amount of time explaining to the western world that Ghannouchi is a moderate Islamist. The inaugural session of the constituent assembly on November 22nd was distinguished. However, the jury is out about the nature of the constitution that the Islamists are likely to fashion for Tunisia.
And then there is Egypt. In the recently concluded first phase of the elections to the People’s Assembly Muslim Brothers, Islamist party, have won 30 to 40 percent of the votes assuring them at least about 40 percent of the assembly seats. Surprisingly, the Salafists, more ideological, puritanical and sometimes stringent Islamists party, have won almost 20% of the vote. The next phases of voting are in the rural areas where Islamist parties are likely to better than their showing in the first phase which was largely confined to major cities.
The elections in Egypt were free, fair and dignified, but nobody is clear how the Islamist parties will govern.
There is uncertainty and the Arab Spring is a bit cloudy for now.
It all began in a small and almost pedestrian manner in Tunisia, a relatively small country in December 2010 when a street vendor protested against abuse from police authorities. Longtime President Zine Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in matter of 5-6 weeks in January 2011. There were about 80 deaths, a sorrowing matter. But the culmination was swift and decisive.
As if on a cue, the citizenry in Egypt rose in determined and sustained protest against longstanding authoritarianism, police brutality and political indifference. The first significant demonstration was on January 25, 2011, and by February 13 President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down. Again, it was very swift and decisive.
And then Libya's President Muammar Gaddafi and his autocratic regime came under siege. The peaceful protests began about February 15th, but since then the struggle became bloody and fitful because use of aggressive force by Gaddafi in an effort to ward off dissent and retain power. And then Gaddafi was removed.
And now the Syrian citizenry is pushing the despotic structure of its government to its limits. President Bashar Assad has been fighting his own citizens since March, and the life of autocratic dispensation is numbered in months.
Of course, Iraq has been trying to establish its own order for the last 6-7 years. For all the doom and gloom, Iraq conducted elections and is being governed by an elected body. There is reasonable measure of freedom and order, though the institutions are fragile.
This is remarkable. In a span of about 8-10 months the political landscape of the Middle-East has changed dramatically, and it continues to evolve. There is a wave of demand for a just, orderly, reasonable, and free life, though the future is a bit cloudy now.
To realize that all this began in a small and almost pedestrian manner in December 2010 in a small town in Tunisia is beyond daring imagination. Twenty-six years old Mohamed Bouazizi was a small street vendor in Sidi Bouzid, a small town in Tunisina. He was the sole income earner in his extended family of eight. He operated a purportedly unlicensed vegetable cart for seven years.
On December 17, 2010, a policewoman confiscated his cart and the produce. Bouazizi, who was used to such confiscation, tried to pay the stipulated 10-dinar fine. The policewoman was grossly abusive. She slapped him, spat in his face, and insulted his deceased father. A humiliated Bouazizi then went to the provincial headquarters in an attempt to complain to local municipality officials. The officials were indifferent and arrogant, and refused an audience.
Deeply anguished and frustrated at regular heap of abuse from the bureaucracy, Bouazizi returned to the headquarters, doused himself with a flammable liquid and set himself on fire. Public outrage quickly grew over the incident, leading to protests. This immolation and the subsequent heavy-handed response by the police to peaceful marchers caused riots the next day in Sidi Bouzid that went largely unnoticed in its first days, but then the protests spread like prairie fire. The rest is history, as they say.
The Middle-East revolutions of 2010 and 2011 continue to inform us about the power of citizenry, and the fundamental weaknesses of autocratic structures.
The wave of freedom quest in the Middle-East is too evident and obvious – we have called it the Arab Spring. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram Lawsuit
However, now the Arab Spring appears to be clouded. Tunisia recently elected its constituent assembly. A general election under the new constitution is expected to be held in late 2012 or early 2013.
The winners in the constituent assembly are candidates affiliated to Islamist party, Nahda, which is led by Rachid Ghannouchi. Nahda secured 41 percent of the assembly seats. The new prime minister is Hamadi Jebali of the Islamist party.
Jebali has spent substantial amount of time explaining to the western world that Ghannouchi is a moderate Islamist. The inaugural session of the constituent assembly on November 22nd was distinguished. However, the jury is out about the nature of the constitution that the Islamists are likely to fashion for Tunisia.
And then there is Egypt. In the recently concluded first phase of the elections to the People’s Assembly Muslim Brothers, Islamist party, have won 30 to 40 percent of the votes assuring them at least about 40 percent of the assembly seats. Surprisingly, the Salafists, more ideological, puritanical and sometimes stringent Islamists party, have won almost 20% of the vote. The next phases of voting are in the rural areas where Islamist parties are likely to better than their showing in the first phase which was largely confined to major cities.
The elections in Egypt were free, fair and dignified, but nobody is clear how the Islamist parties will govern.
There is uncertainty and the Arab Spring is a bit cloudy for now.
It all began in a small and almost pedestrian manner in Tunisia, a relatively small country in December 2010 when a street vendor protested against abuse from police authorities. Longtime President Zine Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in matter of 5-6 weeks in January 2011. There were about 80 deaths, a sorrowing matter. But the culmination was swift and decisive.
As if on a cue, the citizenry in Egypt rose in determined and sustained protest against longstanding authoritarianism, police brutality and political indifference. The first significant demonstration was on January 25, 2011, and by February 13 President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down. Again, it was very swift and decisive.
And then Libya's President Muammar Gaddafi and his autocratic regime came under siege. The peaceful protests began about February 15th, but since then the struggle became bloody and fitful because use of aggressive force by Gaddafi in an effort to ward off dissent and retain power. And then Gaddafi was removed.
And now the Syrian citizenry is pushing the despotic structure of its government to its limits. President Bashar Assad has been fighting his own citizens since March, and the life of autocratic dispensation is numbered in months.
Of course, Iraq has been trying to establish its own order for the last 6-7 years. For all the doom and gloom, Iraq conducted elections and is being governed by an elected body. There is reasonable measure of freedom and order, though the institutions are fragile.
This is remarkable. In a span of about 8-10 months the political landscape of the Middle-East has changed dramatically, and it continues to evolve. There is a wave of demand for a just, orderly, reasonable, and free life, though the future is a bit cloudy now.
To realize that all this began in a small and almost pedestrian manner in December 2010 in a small town in Tunisia is beyond daring imagination. Twenty-six years old Mohamed Bouazizi was a small street vendor in Sidi Bouzid, a small town in Tunisina. He was the sole income earner in his extended family of eight. He operated a purportedly unlicensed vegetable cart for seven years.
On December 17, 2010, a policewoman confiscated his cart and the produce. Bouazizi, who was used to such confiscation, tried to pay the stipulated 10-dinar fine. The policewoman was grossly abusive. She slapped him, spat in his face, and insulted his deceased father. A humiliated Bouazizi then went to the provincial headquarters in an attempt to complain to local municipality officials. The officials were indifferent and arrogant, and refused an audience.
Deeply anguished and frustrated at regular heap of abuse from the bureaucracy, Bouazizi returned to the headquarters, doused himself with a flammable liquid and set himself on fire. Public outrage quickly grew over the incident, leading to protests. This immolation and the subsequent heavy-handed response by the police to peaceful marchers caused riots the next day in Sidi Bouzid that went largely unnoticed in its first days, but then the protests spread like prairie fire. The rest is history, as they say.
The Middle-East revolutions of 2010 and 2011 continue to inform us about the power of citizenry, and the fundamental weaknesses of autocratic structures.
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