The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
30 Jun 2009
This Link TV report charges that Arab rulers from the region fear that the protests in Iran will serve as a reminder about democracy to their own populations.
"Democracy in Arab countries goes only as far as the election booth. Democracy, however, is based on the education of change, civic institutions and human rights. Do these things exist in Arab countries? Do the Arab masses believe in these democratic principles? The answer is no," contends one commentator in this clip.
Some Arab leaders have been in power for decades. Libyan president, Muammar Gaddafi has been in power since 1969. The current Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has been in power since 1978 and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, since 1981, earning him the title "pharoah."
Iran, despite the controversy surrounding its recent election, practices democracy and has had four different presidents since the Iranian revolution of 1979, which toppled the Iranian emperor.
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