Editorial: Why elections in Arab states are important

In a world with 193 internationally recognized states, there are government elections somewhere almost weekly.

This week saw them in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guyana and Gambia as well as in Morocco and Egypt. On Sunday, there will be parliamentary elections in Russia, Croatia and Slovenia. A few days later they will be held on the Ivory Coast, hopefully putting a final seal on that country's recent political conflict.

But it is elections in Arab states that have grabbed the international spotlight — understandable given the events of the Arab Spring. In October, Omanis and Tunisians went to the polls, Moroccans a few days ago and, starting this week, Egyptians begun the rolling series of votes for both houses of Parliament finishing with a presidential contest at the end of June. There are to be elections too in Yemen in February and in Libya in June.

Within and beyond the region, these contests are viewed as a new departure. They are seen as drawing a line under past divisions, past oppression.

In fact, elections are at the heart of Islamic political theory. On the death of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the first caliph, Abu Bakr, was elected by the Muslim community. So too were the subsequent three caliphs. The fact that the practice then changed and, as elsewhere, might became right did not make democracy an obsolete concept for Arabs and Muslims, nor does it now. Indeed, the year 2011 has been a year of revolution not just because oppressed people rose up and overthrew regimes that because of their policies had lost all legitimacy. It has also been a year of revolution in that so many Arabs have reclaimed the Islamic political heritage of democracy.

There are three enormously significant features in common in the North African contests. All have been free and fair. They have been carried out in a remarkably calm and mature atmosphere — as if the countries concerned had long enjoyed fair elections. Thirdly, the winning parties in Tunisia and Morocco, and almost certainly in Egypt, are local variants of the Muslim Brotherhood: By and large, the electorates clearly want their governments to draw their political inspiration from Islam.

A common picture thus emerges, and there is no reason to believe Libya will be any different next year.

In those countries where oppressive regimes have been, or are being consigned to the dustbin of history, elections provide legitimacy for new governments. In other Arab states, that legitimacy is there — but they too are moving down the road of democracy. It may be appear slow in places, but it is far faster than what happened in almost all Western states. For example, in the UK, the mother of modern parliamentary democracy, it took a century to move from having a Parliament controlled by great families and wealthy merchants to one elected by universal suffrage, male and female — and that was only in 1928.

Saudi Arabia has not yet existed as a united country that long.

The entire Arab world is moving. There have been parliamentary elections in the UAE and Oman. In Saudi Arabia, elections are becoming the norm in various sectors of society. There are now elections to university student bodies and in chambers of commerce. There were elections for half the seats on municipal councils in September. As for the Shoura Council, it is merely a question of "when" not "if".

Those who complain about the speed of transformation are being unfair. It is taking place across the Arab world — and it is taking place fast.

Dipetik dari - Arab News