Arab countries have never experienced anything similar to what happened in Tunisia, but they have gone through similar political, economic and social circumstances. So Arab regimes and elites must look long and hard at what has happened -- and is still happening -- in Tunisia. When democracy is reduced to elections, when elections are designed to ensure continued control for this ruling party or that veteran leader, when parliaments have no time for the opposition, when the ruling elites stay put forever, when elections become an occasion for oppression and chaos, when elections open the way for foreign intervention, when elections reinforce sectarianism and clan rivalries, and when elections add to the suffering and misery of the people, this is what happens. What we've seen in Tunisia, Algeria and Jordan is only a symptom of the marginalisation of democracy in the region. Democracy can fall on hard times, as happened recently in Cote d'Ivoire. But in the Arab world, the hard times never end. From Palestine to Iraq and Egypt -- and Algeria before that -- the crisis has been brewing for years. One can understand African countries having trouble with democracy, for democracy is just starting out there. But Arab countries have had parliaments for decades now; for a century even. Arab countries have the money, the education and the exposure to Western culture and to democratic practices. And yet they are slipping back. Often, the true democrats are excluded from the process in which they are supposed to excel: elections. In many parts of the Arab world regimes claim to be democratic, or at least say they are willing to move on to full democracy, each in its own way. In many Arab countries, there are regimes that have their own patriarchal interpretation of democracy. There is a regime that makes sure that elections and referendums never push from power the one candidate the democratic principle exists to hold accountable; namely, the incumbent president, who routinely is hailed as the great protector and guardian of democracy. The Tunisian president never failed to get less than 80 per cent of the vote. In all Arab countries, elections are held amid considerable fanfare. And yet the other components of democracy are being ignored. One can say that democracy has been reduced to phoney elections. The remainder of the democratic process is nowhere to be seen. There is no culture of democracy. There is no education of democracy. And forget about commitment to pluralism and acceptance of others. Democracy is no longer the sum total of the wishes of the people. Elections have turned from a means to promote social justice into a way of perpetuating the regime and legitimising tyranny. Elections, in their current form, empower the rulers, not the people. Or else they are dictated by outsiders who don't really give a damn and wouldn't mind watching Arab countries fall apart. Regimes treat elections like a computerised model that must be manipulated into producing the right outcome. Such regimes are not interested in the culture of elections. They don't care for the culture of citizenry, and they cannot care less for fair play. The idea that people should exercise freewill through genuine political participation is not high on their priorities. Make-belief democracy is nothing more than a cover-up for tyranny, a game to eradicate genuine politics and the time- honoured notions of freedom, unity and progress that the Arabs entertained in the post-colonial era. Through real elections, one can gauge the presence and popularity of political parties. Through fair elections, a nation should have the opportunity to name its representatives. Through real elections, power can be rotated in a peaceful manner, among those who believe in democracy and who are willing to step down from office if they lose. Through elections, the nation feels empowered and in control. Elections are the only time when the powerful beg for the approval of the ordinary people. Elections, to be democratic, must come with free expression and personal freedoms. With ruling parties winning landslides every single time, with slogans corrupted and money squandered in acts of political pretence, elections have been degraded. Democracy is not about buying votes with bread or a few pounds. It is not about bullying and pressuring. It is not about lying and cheating. In the Arab world, elections are no longer about honest rivalry, but about the powerful wanting to hold on to their privileges. They twist ideologies to suit their purposes, and if necessary they buy votes with ill-begotten funds. As for the underprivileged, the very people the powerful few claim to be so concerned about, they are soon forgotten. Look at what happened in Algeria in 1992. Look at what happened afterwards in Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Palestine. And then take a good look at the Egyptian parliamentary elections of 2010. In all of the above, the elections weren't about social programmes that made sense to the people, but about a ruling party intent on outsmarting a small secular minority or a large -- and equally authoritarian -- Islamic opposition. Meanwhile, the few remaining democratic movements have had to ally themselves with undemocratic powers to survive. They have gone into alliance with either the regime or the Islamists. Elections have become a battlefield among forces that cannot care less for the cherished values that their countries stand for. It is fine to compete for power, but there are some things that politicians must not jeopardise, such as the immutable principles of a nation. There is a crisis of democracy in the Arab world, as well as a crisis of culture and of identity. What is happening in Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, Sudan and Lebanon is a sign of the failure of patriarchal regimes to build societies on the foundation of true citizenry. It is a sign that people have lost their faith in elections as a means of change, and that they are willing to take the law into their own hands.
