No one has the right answer!

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In a question to Al-Haidari, through video call that became very popular for well-known reasons, about the reason for the lack of success of democracy among the Eastern peoples, especially the Arabs, and its success in Western countries, he replied that there are no absolute answers, and that democracy needs awareness, along with its need for freedom of the press and civil society and fatwas have no role to play in it. Taha Hussein had previously said, 100 years ago, that democracy succeeded in Greece because they had a civilization, while it failed with the Arabs because they had a nomadic civilization.

As for Aristotle, he said: “The Eastern peoples” are barbaric, so how can democracy succeed there? I do not agree with the words of Hussein Sa’adoun Al-Haidari, or with what he said regarding the lack of readiness of our societies for democracy, and that East Asian countries, such as China and Japan, do not have democracy?

Perhaps Brother Al-Haidari has forgotten that Japan has been considered one of the greatest democracies in the world since 1946, and nothing has affected it since that day. But how did he forget or neglect to mention dozens of other countries, outside the Western system, whether in Southeast Asia, Africa, or South America, such as South Africa, Brazil, Chile, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and many others, which have enjoyed democracy for sixty years?

Questioning the validity of democracy here and its invalidity there is very similar to asking, to a large extent, the reason for the success of cultivating a certain product in this region and its failure in another region. The answer is known and relates to the environment, including water, soil, temperature, experience, and other factors, but man has overcome all of them through “greenhouse” cultivation, which provides a suitable environment for growing any product. Protected homes are equivalent in nascent democracies to good education, teaching the articles of the constitution, spreading the virtue of accepting difference, and raising future generations to coexist.

As for saying that democracy does not benefit our people just because we are Easterners, this is completely far from the truth. Some have several objections to Kuwaiti democracy, and the number of these people is increasing with its repeated failure, but it is an artificial failure that is in the interest of specific and well-known groups whose temperament or bank balances democracy does not suit. It means freedom, and it means oversight, accountability, and interrogation. Therefore, it was always wonderful to repeat the leadership’s emphasis on adherence to democracy in all circumstances, this is our choice, and this is our destiny.

Imagine with me, if the government had begun, with the first parliamentary elections, seeking to spread, teach, and consolidate the culture of democracy among the various groups of society, through school curricula and all media, would the image or reputation of democracy and its practices be this bad?

If successive governments had sought, through all the means, power and money they had and still have, to prevent factionalism, regionalism, tribalism and sectarianism, would we have reached this point of fragmentation? There is still plenty of time, and it may be the last opportunity to adjust the situation, through a set of measures, which may be unacceptable to some and painful to others, but in the end, they will be in the interest of the nation, and that means in the interest of everyone. If the path to achieving true democracy is long, it must be taken immediately. If the time has not come to implement it in our country, when will this time come? What is funny, or confusing, is that almost everyone does not want democracy! Everyone hates dictatorship and the oppression and arbitrariness that accompany it! But almost no one has any idea what the best alternative is!

By Ahmad alsarraf
e-mail: [email protected]

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