By: Ahmed Mohammed Al-Garady,
Taiz

A close examination and professional research is urgently needed to scrutinize the gap between democratic values and their absence in the Arab world. To look over it deeply, let's reveal to the reader some distinct points in this regard.

In fact, humanity witnessed various kinds of political and social systems. As man became powerful and efficient to control the nature, a need arose to regulate the interaction between man and the nature at one point and between man and man at the other. Subsequent chain of political authorities came into existence to establish the ideology of the ruling power. Generally speaking, mankind experienced the natural, autocratic, social-contract and secular authorities.

Needless to confirm that the ideological affiliations and personal crane can't lead to convincing and objective results when tackling this issue. It is not easy to treat theme of democracy in scientific and general detail. Therefore, I would not concern myself with historical accumulation and intellectual heritage. Our writers seem to create illogical contradictions when they discuss the democratic evolution, and hold a strong ground on this claim; Let me provide you with some evidence.

At the beginning, non of us can deny that democracy includes a lot of pivotal ingredients such as the right to select the ruler, the freedom of the market, the intellectual and political tolerance, pluralism, the rights of a equal citizenship and so on. Repeatedly, our thinkers magnify these democratic values and marginalize their manifestations in the practical reality.

To make it sufficiently clear, one should study the structure of the Islamic nations. The structure of the political systems in the Islamic world is still based on the hierarchical authorities according to blood, tribal neighborhood relations; Logically, such a graduation of power of the ruling system possesses forceful institutions to educate people according to one tract-mind philosophy, leading to the absence of the intellectual and political pluralism. A mono-cultural society always implants in the mind of citizen a one-directed mentality which always results in a negative definite stereotyping when dealing with other dissident social forces of the civil society. However, in such a case, one can not assure the evolution.

Undoubtedly, the evolution of the civil society was due to the great success and victory of the bourgeoisie class against the traditional feudal monarchs and kings. The advent of this class brought a news style of the social production and the political reforms. Likewise, the democratic practices came into existence after subsequent revolutions to cut down the unlimited power of the absolute authority. Similarly advocates and supporters of the democratic values, either with a long term or emerging roots should pay a special attention with deep understanding to the scientific achievements. Science and philosophy have the proportion of the lion, bringing about a tremendous victory of the democratic values. Scientists and philosophers worked diligently to face new ideas and concepts, dominating over the untrue and traditional ones.

The Arabic writers always neglect this critical area. Science can not be kept away from democracy. In other words, one can conclude that the democratic philosophy does not monopolize the reality, giving a wide range of intellectual differences and political pluralism. The western discoveries of different cultures, civilizations, languages enrich the inherent philosophy of democracy. Let me not divert our interests to other themes.

As already said, democracy deals with values, problems, and also general cases according to the scientific power of resource. It employs the scientific method to diagnose and foretell the suggestive solutions of the social problems. This epistemological victory provides man with a sense of creativity and invention against the human apathy and the intellectual stagnation.

The democratic nations are indebted to the brave reformists and the wise thinkers for their resistance against all kinds of the untrue and deceptive beliefs and traditions. They bravely pave the way for social progress and development. In fact, this process is not just ridiculous slogans but it has taken a long course of time. Martin Luther, the leader of Protestantism, John Coluin, John Roles, Luke, Roussea, etc. made sustained efforts to elucidate the concepts of the social contract state. Actually, it is not my objective to throw light on this aspect, I merely want to explain how long the process has lasted since then up to now.

Actually, a short article can not treat the issue of the subsequent events of the democratic changes. However it is good to be aware about it's basic background. Now, let me mention some obstacles in the process of our democratization. People should understand that we glorify the success of the other civilizations. We do not throw away the sublime values of our spiritual store and the Islamic heritage. We just motivate our societies to recover its healthy mechanism to deal with the current problems. All of us can not deny that the freedom of intellect, faith and conscience is one of the significant pillars in Islam. It is not our aim to discuss this area in this presentation.

Considering my point of view from this perspective, all people, the ruling and the ruled, should be aware that freedom is not a gift from anybody. It is a natural right. So politician must not use it to remind us repeatedly about their patriotic achievements. At another point, the political differences and conflicts must change its the traditional method which is intended to neglect the rights and destroy the dissident voices. Such conflicts should be changed into a fruitful source of accountability and transparency. Rights of all parties should be respected to avoid the immoral sequences of the destructive violence. The activity of enlightenment plays an effective role to change the attitudes of the conflicting forces. The emerging evolution of the civil society should be allowed to come into existence naturally without the interference, persecution and hegemony of the ruling power. The evolution of the civil society in Yemen is the unquestionable solution to establish the state of democracy. Unless all forces work hand in hand to alleviate the suffering of the people, things might get worse and worse. Dreams will change into nightmares. Therefore, the forces of the civil society should not be adopted by the despotic system of the ruling power in the Arab world. In fact, a true belief of pluralism can create a collective understanding to teach people the invaluable art of dialogue. To maintain the peace of mind, all sides should grasp the moral dimensions of the tolerance principle, issued in the bill of human rights. People should not be classified according to believers or disbelievers secessionists or unitarians; men or women, slaves and masters to protect the equal rights of citizenship.

Journalism should be respected regardless of the political affiliations. The freedom of the press should be protected from the military censorship and the immoral torture and intimation of the persecutors, violators and law breakers. All authorities namely, the executive, the legislative and judiciary should be completely separated and independent to achieve their missions and responsibilities in accordance with the sovereignty of the national constitution. If a nation cannot provide its citizens with the mentioned values, it is impossible to be called democratic and it won't be so. Can we cope with that? I think it is the right time to start practical reforms. Is there anybody who hears our outcries? Time or Yemen Times will inform us. Let's wait and see.

Common Sense
By: Hassan Al-Haifi

One of the major issues confronting the Republic of Yemen - government and people - is the problem of achieving sustained human and economic development that will lead to the improvement of living conditions for the people of the country on an equitable basis, and insure cultural enhancement that will ensure for the country a stable place in the modern world. From time to time, Common Sense will delve into the issues of development in Yemen, because it is a topic that will take much more than can be covered in one article. It is also an issue of paramount interest to everyone involved, from the government to Yemen's sometimes helpless donors, who seem to be at a loss, in determining, what is wrong with the development process in the Republic of Yemen, and where are the root causes of the inability of realizing the desired objectives of the vast sums of money in aid, which Yemen has received over the years, and why are not the tangible results apparent yet, from all this money, which has been expended towards the development of Yemen.

Fifty years ago, Yemen was a "donor" country, enjoying surpluses in agricultural output, that enabled it to provide aid to the neighboring countries, who have yet to taste the prosperity of the oil boom, that was to eventually push Yemen back into the stream of poor, underdeveloped societies - the abyss of the Third World. At the time, the population of the country did not exceed five million , almost all of whom were engaged in traditional agricultural systems. Even "urban" areas were checkered with vast land areas cultivated with garden vegetables and fruit trees. In addition, most "urban" dwellers maintained their own flock of livestock - sheep, a cow, goats and chicken. While still lacking in most of the amenities of modern livelihood, it still goes without saying that it still achieved a high degree of self sustenance, a favorable ecological balance, with a mutual give-and-take relationship between the inhabitants and the environment. An interesting insight into this period of cordial relations with nature might be found in the small book, Yemen, on the Threshold, by Bethmann, issued in 1959.

After the ouster of the monarchy, in 1962 and the subsequent "Civil War", where Yemen played the role of the battlefield, between "traditionalism" lead by the Saudi Arabians under the late King Faisal, and the "revolutionary" Pan-Arab nationalist movement lead by the late Gamal Abdul Nasser, of the United Arab Republic - Egypt, the cordial relationship with nature was never to see light again. Yemen's closed ecological balanced factor - mix had become subjected to challenges of different manifestations, including regional developments, internal political instability, changing tastes and habits, erratic population movements and an increasingly declining rapport between the inhabitants and the environment.
It goes without saying that considerable strides have been made in "development". But it is clear now that such development has not looked upon the sustainability of this mutual natural affinity between man and nature, as an important asset that should have been maintained. This was principally due to the fact that the development efforts in Yemen was characterized by the following:

1)A biased emphasis on quantitative achievements, contrasted with a total disregard for any qualitative considerations.
2)Lack of a comprehensive and integrated systematic and methodological approach towards development, with the absence of any standards for evaluation of the results achieved, and the impacts realized.
3)Poor planning, monitoring and follow-up thus leading to a generally ad-hoc, impulsive approach to developments, with little analysis and foresight of the ensuing results.
4)Decreasing involvement of targeted beneficiaries, contrasted by a notorious and humiliating trend towards a tight centralized framework, that clearly aims at fostering the interests of a very small clique, and maintain all the movement of resources and energies under the control thereof, with little consideration to national long term interests of the population at large.
5)An impotent statutory and judicial framework, which is unable to impose the will of law and order with a view to meting out justice and equal treatment of all under the law.
6)A total disregard for prioritization in its broader sense of serving Yemen's real national interest and dealing with those issues of clear substance to the general population. Contrasting with this, there is a heavy emphasis on giving priority to political considerations - at all expense, and what ever the adverse outcome this could have on the overall development aspirations of the people.
7)An emphasis on short term results, usually in order to meet political ends. Along this line, acquired assets and infrastructure are left to undergo rapid deterioration, due to the absence of self - sustaining operations and maintenance systems to keep them fully in service.

These shortcomings in the development approach of the Republic of Yemen have eventually become constraints against any individual, community and regional initiatives towards development. Moreover they have often resulted in erratic situations arising, which have severely punctured some of the substantive achievements previously achieved under more favorable national economic conditions - a heavy price in service to minor narrow interests that have lead to the decay of very important social and ethical mores, which were once an important self regulating fabric of the society, with minimal signs of crime and social injustice.

In addition, as is the case in most developing countries, cultural enhancement of the population, was given a back seat - if any seat at all - in the development aspirations sought by the government. This eventually clamped down on creativity and innovation. In fact, all cultural activity became principally focused on misguiding the public away from self - expression of any form. Political, scientific, literary and artistic endeavors have become subjected to complex procedural arrangements and controls and any such activities are viewed as prelude to dissent and insurgency.

On the other hand, the public media is either a government monopoly, or is subject to very limited access to the public - and even then, this access is under extremely tight government scrutiny, with the sword of vengeance ready to fall at any time that any "unpatriotic" criticism is aimed at the government or its symbols of authority. This, in the end produces an unreasonable block to access to information of all sorts, and does not allow for badly needed public awareness on even the most important issues of public health, education and economic productivity - the issues that are of most serious concern to the people. Moreover, this clampdown on public awareness seems to contrast with the constitutional right guaranteeing public access to information and the public media, which the original legislators had in mind, as a form of public oversight of government. Moreover it deprives the public from the opportunities that free channels of communication can offer to disseminate their creative and innovative ideas that can be of significant help towards improving their economic welfare and that of others who can also share or improve upon such ideas, as well as deprive the public of meaningful cultural enhancement, which the government media and cultural institutions have failed to bring about, despite the large investment in assets that have yet to come up with any stimulating cultural output, which would justify such heavy investments, and help to put the country on the right track towards development, in all of its manifestations.