The Hope For Democracy In A Reign Of Dictators
Demonstrators carry national flags and light candles during an anti-government protest near al-Amin mosque in Beirut, Lebanon.
Mohamed Azakir/Reuters
The English document Magna Carta set out the rule of law in 1215, essentially giving rise to the British parliament. In 1789, the French revolution started to establish the republic of France. 1917, the emperor of Russia abdicated his power to the communist revolution of the people. Lastly, 1918 saw the abdication of the German emperor and the formation of a republic in its place. These changes all share a common factor amongst each other. They all remove power from monarchs to give power to the people in theory.
Today, we see it happening in another form in our world. The Arab region have been engulfed in what became known as the Arab Spring, an attempt to remove the dictators (monarch) of the region. The revolts have had a massive impact, and although most of them have not yet fully succeed to date, they show promising results. This case is not too far from the European example as most states had to go through ‘in between’ stages to get to true democracies. The most prominent example is that of the Tunisian revolt, which recently saw the fruits of its effort in the form of a free, democratic election. The worst example can be seen in Egypt which is right now holding its breath waiting for the spark to explode.
Lebanon is currently a prime example of what is happening. Lebanon is a country that is infested with Sectarianism, hatred, corruption. The people have taken it to the street to protest the corruption of the government with fantastic results amongst the people. The Sectarianism has almost disappeared, and people no longer care about it. They became united under the call for democracy, resulting in the resignation of the prime minister. They have halted public life in protest protected at times by the military in order to avoid violence.
Algeria is another example to look at. The Algerian people have demanded the physically unfit president to withdraw his nomination for a fifth presidential term. They have taken to the streets to clearly express their voices, and two months later, the president is no longer a candidate for the presidency. The protests have calmed down a bit after with some celebration going; however, the lack of response for the call to overhaul the government has reignited the protest calling for the removal of the entire government.
The past two countries are just prime examples of what happens when governments don’t address the need of the people. These protests have spanned in too many countries to count and list at the moment, but they share a common factor or two. The first one is that these protest have seen rise due to young men and women who were brave enough to take on this impossible task of facing authoritarian regimes in order to give into demand of democracy and progress. Some of these have seen improvement, namely: Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria. These countries have taken a more gradual approach to demands and have been able to respond to the will of the people in a similar fashion to the development of the British parliament, in small bursts over time. Other countries are not so quick to adapt and are much more likely to face a harsher backlash from people. The French revolution in the past was not kind to those in power, and with the frustration of the people, a repeat of it could have massive consequences for those who stand to lose their power and money. One thing is certain in that region, for the first time in many years, I can look at the map of it and smile in hope knowing that we, the youth of the region, are about to overthrow our king and queens much like Europe did a hundred years ago. I can finally have something to smile about looking back at the people there and finally draw a smile of aspiration and comfort knowing democracy is on its way.