The Arab World's Rulers for Life - Power and Corruption

Dear friends,

I write this one more essay before I completely fade into oblivion, since this 

pervasive Arab world phenomenon of rulers for life has lately and persistently been on my mind.  As I kept thinking about how to deal with this harmful spectacle, this popped into my head: "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."  This saying aptly applies to these Arab rulers for life.

Below, I discuss the history of this phenomenon, its causes and consequences, its inevitable outcome, its tragic endgame and the desirable outcome.  I then conclude with a humorous scenario.

The History

From Morocco in the West to the smallest of emirates in the far East of the Arab world, rulers have yet, in the history of the Arab world, to relinquish power on their own volition.  The ones who have left during their reign have gone feet first, via a bloody revolution, an assassination, an uprising or an untimely death.

Consider the recent history of below ten Arab countries, a good representation of the 22 Arab League countries:

• Mohammed VI of Morocco, king since 1999, inherited the throne from his father Hassan II, who was king from 1961 until his death in 1999.
• Houari Boumediene, second president of Algeria, seized power in 1965 after deposing first president Ahmed Ben Bella; Boumediene remained Algeria's undisputed ruler until his death in 1978; and so on for Algeria.
• The 2011 Tunisian revolution led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled Tunisia since 1987.
• In Libya, Muammar Gaddafi ruled for 42 years until his assassination in 2011.
• In Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser de facto ruled 1952-1970, died of a heart 
  attack.  Anwar Sadat took over and was assassinated in 1981.  Hosni Mubarak inherited the presidency and was toppled by the 2011 revolution.  The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, elected through a dubious process, assumed the presidency in 2012 with the Brotherhood declaring their intent to rule Egypt for 500 years.  Morsi 
  was deposed in 2013; who knows what the future will bring?  I am neither naive nor dishonest enough to believe that the next president will leave office willingly after a set term.
• In Iraq, Saddam Hussein, formally president in 1979 and de facto head of Iraq for several years prior, was deposed in 2003 by a coalition led by the U.S. and U.K.  Now with the Shiites in power, who knows what 
  will happen?
• In Syria, Hafez al-Assad, president from 1971 till his death in 2000, was succeeded by his son Bashar al-Assad who presides over Syria to date, with no end in sight.
• In Jordan, Hussein bin Talal was King from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death in 1999.  Hussein's rule extended through the Cold War and four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict.  Hussein is succeeded by his son, Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein, who ascended to 
  the throne in 1999.
• In Saudi Arabia, an impressive list of rulers for life.  Kings of Saudi Arabia since 1932:
• King Abdul Aziz (Ibn Saud), 1932-1953
• King Saud (Saud bin Abdul Aziz), son of King Abdul Aziz, 1953-1964
• King Faisal (Faisal bin Abdul Aziz), son of King Abdul Aziz, 1964-1975
• King Khalid (Khalid bin Abdul Aziz), son of King Abdul Aziz, 1975-1982
• King Fahd (Fahd bin Abdul Aziz), son of King Abdul Aziz, 1982-2005
• King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, 2005-present
• In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the first president, a post which he held for over 33 years (1971–2004). Zayed had succeeded his brother, Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who had succeeded his uncle Sheikh Saqr bin Zayed Al Nahyan.  Zayed was succeeded by his son, Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who has ruled since 2004.  The Al Nahayan family is believed to have a fortune of $150 billion collectively.

Causes and Consequences

I believe this phenomenon of no Arab leader in the history of the Arab world having left power on his own accord is both cause and effect of a plethora of 
political and socio-economic issues that include:

• Corruption, so ingrained into the psyche of the populace that it becomes a way of life, too tempting and impossible to resist taking advantage of it, no matter the damage inflicted on the nation.  Why leave the loot to someone else?
• Competency and know-how, not a priority, almost never the driving force, in favor of belonging and allegiance to the throne.
• Governing, stagnation of ideas reigns, a constant anemia of talent, and when it does take place it is unauthoritative and thus inconsequential.
  
• Resources, limited and increasingly scarce, not enough to 
  go around for an ever-expanding population.
• People, viewed as a largely ignorant, under-developed, uneducated and uninformed bunch, who will never appreciate the finer things in life.  They are used to poverty.  They live day to day, hand to mouth, and expect and deserve no better.
• Nation's problems, intractable and becoming more so with time, mafeesh faida (no use).
• Overpopulation and backward mentality about modern life and the role of religion in it, have rulers thinking they'd better grab the good life for themselves, and their families, allies and supporters; be it the extended royal family and its servants, the military-benefiting segment, or the Islamist-way-of-life people.
• Human rights, reprehensible measures and atrocities practiced by ruler and entire regime, that include torture, incarceration of the opposition, trampling over enemies and adversaries.
• Constitutions, lack of viable enforceable ones that are respected by governments and people alike.

The Inevitable Outcome

With above abysmal scorecard, rulers will never willingly leave office, the consequences awaiting them are too dire to contemplate.  Thus, leaving office after a set term or even after decades is not in the cards, and may never be, because of these two stark realities:

1. Risk is enormous, risk of retaliation for ghastly human rights violations (e.g., Hosni Mubarak regime's torture of political opponents), risk of prosecution and persecution, vendetta and payback by the next clan to assume power.
2. Loss is colossal to the incumbents of vast unearned investments, privileges and perks to another group they despise, abhor or loathe. Those riches never go to the people, mind you!  The logic here is 
   simple: as a ruler you amassed never-expected fortunes, you have become a billionaire or even a mere multi-millionaire, all others in your nation are either poor, middle class or well-to-do at best.  Would you on your own accord switch places with those?  Would you after having won the lottery and thoroughly enjoyed it for few years, give what is left of it back?

The Tragic Endgame

People are not put first, siphoning these nations' funds away continues indefinitely, corruption is not tackled, let alone stamped out.  Serious work is needed on the noble and moral agenda that by definition is entrusted to these rulers, developing the country, economically, politically and most importantly socially, by gearing the ruler, the government, the people's assembly and the judiciary to work hard and get down to the serious business of running a country, laser-focused on:

• Jobs, provided through a progressive economy that encourages private investments, the revitalization of cities and villages, training and retraining workers.
• Women, make them full partners in government and provide them with sincere opportunities and options, focus on their interests, protect their right to choose, and crack down on violence against them, both domestic and outside the home.
• Minorities, honored and protected by laws as first-class citizens, with pluralism and diversity lauded, religious freedom the norm, with the right to change or leave religions.
• Education reform, revamped from the core out, from schools to colleges, via huge investments, modern, useful curriculum and high expectations of teachers and students alike.
• Health care, provided and made affordable by cutting down on corruption that sky-rockets costs, and by working effectively with drug and insurance companies.
• Government reform, with work ethic, accountability, meritocracy and corruption control becoming the norm.
• Tax system, that favors the poor, the middle class and last the rich.
• Regulation, that confronts shady alliances, unethical deals, and outlaws manipulation and greed.
• Science and technology, with emphasis in overall government spending, in education, in public discourse, in official circles nationwide, in the media.
• Religion, put it in its proper place, the private matter of the individual and out of public life.
• Arts, ensuring them an essential role in the education and enrichment of the people.
• Community development, by emphasizing the need for competent and legitimate local governments, from villages on up; by directing national funds and encouraging private investments, by creating a national network of know-how institutions and individuals who could lend a hand. 
• Military and police, having them work and be responsible for law and order, the safety and security of the nation and its people, and not to terrorize, control, subdue, or deny people their freedom and dignity.
• Civil rights, for all, through laws and prosecution of offenders.
• Housing and transportation, attention to the provision of decent housing, and renovation of roads, bridges and railroads.
• Welfare, eradicate the prevailing mentality that government owes people a living, never mind a decent one, instill instead hard work as a virtue, honoring and rewarding hard-working people with good jobs that can lift them out of poverty.

The Desirable Outcome

The triumph of the ideal that rulers who want to and can govern are endowed with a moral and dutiful character, one that:

• Puts serving one's country as the highest priority.  While getting rich is a natural human instinct, with patience it should accrue to said rulers, preferably after they leave office.  The goal here is not to rely on corruption to achieve wealth.  This way, rulers and people alike will come out on top.
• Understands that modern life demands term limits in office, any office.

An unrealistic vision to an intractable issue, perhaps.  I am well aware of Thomas Edison's "Vision without execution is hallucination."  I understand that recidivism is a chronic danger in the Arab world.  I also believe that ultimately, peacefully or not, real power will be with the people.  People across most of the Arab world will not forget their popular battle cry of "food, freedom, social justice and dignity."  Sooner or later it will be heeded.

If All Else Fails, a Humorous Scenario

...and here's a fun proposal.

There will be two terms for a regime.  With the benefit of ingrained knowledge of the ways and means of corruption, the regime [ruler, government, people assembly, judiciary], say of Egypt, will buckle down, get to serious work and stop siphoning the nation's funds away, eschew corruption, and work hard on the noble and moral agenda on which they were elected.

If at the end of the first term, accomplishments and achievements amount to little, if programs and projects put into effect have delivered little or nothing, the regime will step down, will not seek a second term.  No mischief or violence will be tolerated.

If, on the other hand, development has progressed across the board, the regime stays for the second term, with one gigantic concession from the people.

The people of Egypt will permit the regime the last year of their second term to be a year where they get to rob the country for their benefit. An incredible incentive allowing them to pave their way, with huge funds secured in foreign banks and luxury residences, to a vigorously sought-after and highly-desirable future exile to Europe, the US, Canada, maybe even Brasil or Russia.

This way, the people get only one term of an incompetent regime, or the benefit of almost two productive terms.

At the end of the second term, all regime leaders will then take family and cronies out of the country to the fabulous estates acquired during their year of state-sanctioned corruption.  Or, if preferred, they may stay in peace and harmony within the nation enjoying in their income from investments and fabulous estates abroad, with no fear of retaliation.  After all, their corrupt year in power was with the people's permission.

The next regime then takes over with same scenario, etc., etc., etc. 

This agreement between the people and the regime will be in writing, signed in the presence of two world leaders whose nations are perfectly capable of stepping to help the people to unseat said regime by force, if necessary.  The people get to choose these two nations.

The absurdity of this proposal not withstanding, call it democracy, call it modernity, call it progress or call it common sense, leaders must come but leaders must also go; that is why we have this strange happening called term limits.

Hussein

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My blog:   http://husseinamin45.blogspot.com/