16 February 2011 By Tariq Alhomayed As long as our media, or at least parts of it,
insist on asking the question who's next after Tunisia
and Egypt? Let us offer advice to our republics who
are concerned with the crisis more than others.
Whatever some of our media outlets say, which I will
discuss in a forthcoming article under the title "the
bullying media", there is a magic remedy to the
crisis, rather than demonstrations and destruction.
This remedy is especially significant considering what
we see happening in Algeria and Yemen. My advice is not along the lines of what Colonel
Muammar Gaddafi intends to do, by joining the
anti-government demonstrations in person, in other
words demonstrating against himself, but rather it is
far simpler, and more credible. In the event of an
outbreak of severe protests in our republics, the best
solution is to call for immediate presidential
elections under international observation. Whoever
wins that election stays in power, and whoever loses
leaves with dignity, rather than being defamed. This
would circumvent the maneuvers of some of our Arab
media, which in turn would appease the professionals
in the business, who have endured a difficult past two
months. This is not a ridiculous proposal; rather it
is a rational and prudent call, with a sense of
responsibility. Instead of the violence which we witnessed in Egypt
and Tunisia, in particular the Battle of the Camel,
instead of Iran's manipulation, whereby President
Ahmadinejad, who is accused of electoral fraud by
nearly half his populace, said that what happened in
Egypt and Tunisia was the "blessing of the Mahdi",
instead of the economic losses, instead of repeatedly
confusing America within the space of one day, let the
entire process be "peaceful", as advocated by Egypt's
youth. Subsequently, the region and our republics
would be spared many losses and casualties. Thus, what is needed is a call for elections
immediately after the outbreak of protests,
immediately after the people come out onto the
streets. A call for presidential elections shows that
the regime has confidence in itself, provided that the
elections are observed by neutral international
bodies, and genuine electoral competition is
permitted. As long as our republics accept the fact
that they are republics, rather than monarchies or "republarchies",
and their constitutions state that the people are the
principal source of authority, the best solution is to
conduct elections when the people have challenged the
authority of the President. This is far better than
trading insults, or coming out with posters and
banners, in a manner similar to what we saw in Tahrir
Square. Why deceive ourselves? The crisis facing our region
today, as I have repeatedly stated since the outbreak
of the Egyptian uprising, until the end of the
revolution there, is a crisis of Arab republics that
want to be monarchies or emirates. Thus the best way
to confront these uprisings, or revolutions, is to
call for direct presidential elections. The Yemeni
President, for example, has declared that he will not
seek to renew or extend his term in office, and will
not reset the clock or get rid of it altogether, yet
it would be better, instead of the acts of rioting and
violence, to call for presidential elections within
three months, and under impartial international
observation. Whoever wins can govern the country, and
whoever loses can go home with all respect intact. The
same applies to Libya, instead of Colonel Gaddafi
coming out onto the street to protest against himself!
Is that not a more favorable solution? I think any
rational mind would approve of that idea. As I said
above, there is no need for another Battle of the
Camel, there is no need to [organize protests] via "Facebook",
or even to begin unblocking websites as Syria has
done…Elections are the shortest route to safety!
Tariq Alhomayed is the Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, the youngest
person to be appointed that position. He holds a BA degree in Media studies from
King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, and has also completed his Introductory
courses towards a Master's degree from George Washington University in
Washington D.C. He is based in London.
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