October 27th, 2010 by Jason

Writing at Foreign Policy’s Middle East Channel, Shadi Hamid puts the recent election in Bahrain and the upcoming elections in Jordan and Egypt into context: “Saturday’s elections in Bahrain instead reflected a new and troubling trend in the Arab world: the free but unfair — and rather meaningless — election.” While opposition groups were able to adapt and take advantage of the “Arab spring” of 2005, the regions authoritarians were not far behind in creating a “democratic facade” to  present to the international community. Hamid says that “[s]ome might consider this a workable compromise: Arabs get to vote and let out some steam. Friendly Arab regimes get to maintain their grip on power.” This arrangement is not viable in the long term, Hamid contends, because young people are becoming restless with the political theater. “If free but meaningless elections become the new norm, the Arab opposition may be forced to adopt a more impatient and confrontational approach, one that emphasizes civil disobedience, mass protest, and other ‘de-legitimization’ techniques.”

Posted in Bahrain, Civil Society, Egypt, Elections, Freedom, Jordan, Reform, US foreign policy |