Reform may be lagging behind but progress continues unhindered

Reform may be lagging behind but progress continues unhindered: a View from the Gulf by Mustapha Karkouti.(CURRENT AFFAIRS)
Karkouti, Mustapha
1388 words
1 July 2008
The Middle East
32
ISSN: 0305-0734; Issue 391
English
Copyright 2008 Gale Group Inc. All rights reserved.

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TRAVELLING IN GULF Cooperation Council (GCC) countries it is impossible not to be impressed by the sheer volume of progress and rapid changes taking place with varying degrees in a way that makes you wonder how, in such a short transition time, can such countries withstand the task of reconciling the old with the new?

The GCC states continue to face the impact of significant change brought about by globalisation, rapid international interaction, and the pursuit of progress, modernity and development.

Since the 1950s, oil revenues have shaped the overall economies as well as the nature of the state-society relationship in the Gulf. Oil revenues have also considerably contributed to shaping the GCC countries' foreign policies in the region and beyond.

As has been demonstrated, the soaring increase in gross domestic product (GDP) in the Gulf has been mainly due to rising prices in international oil markets rather than the productivity of the national economy. This oil boom and the surplus of revenues have led GCC governments to commit to a very generous social contract--unlike anywhere else in the world, offering their citizens highly paid jobs for life in the public sector and providing them with open-ended social security benefits and free healthcare and education.

These changes exert tremendous and continuous pressure on Gulf Arab Muslim societies--with the exception of Bahrain and Kuwait to some extent because of their historic experience in progress, growth and practising democracy--as they attempt to bridge the gap between traditional and conservative values and the effects of rapid growth and development. The main area of dispute is the question of traditionalism (including religion) versus modernism.

So far the GCC members have succeeded in advancing unprecedented change rapidly and in ways not seen in other Arab countries, including those with huge oil reserves such as Libya and Algeria. The areas that have witnessed reform on such a large scale are mostly education, infrastructure, economic growth, investments, living standards and media. The latest, and by far, the largest Saudi Arabia higher education development plan ever seen in the region, is an indication of the reformist Saudi monarch's intention to transform Saudi society. King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has recently entrusted the state-owned oil company, Aramco, with a $10bn budget to build a western-style university on the country's West coast.

The mere fact of putting Aramco in charge of such a colossal and challenging project reflects the Saudi monarch's liberal way of thinking by ensuring that higher education in Saudi Arabia should be kept away from traditional and religious influence. It is undoubtedly clear that King Abdullah recognises Aramco's impressive record and its managerial efficiency. The Saudi oil company always looked different and operated very differently from any existing state-run institution. Since it was created by Standard Oil in the early 1930s, and even when the company became owned by the Saudi State in the 1970s, Aramco has operated with its own set of standards and has always enjoyed a remarkable level of freedom in the country.

However, the notion of reform as a comprehensive and continuous process is heavily hindered in the Gulf countries. Political reform, for example, is still lagging behind the huge social, economic and educational progress. Admittedly, the ruling elites under the leadership of various royal families in the GCC countries have been more open to modest liberalisation than to democratisation. Of course one cannot put all the Gulf States in a single basket. There is a spectrum of approaches to politics exemplified at one end by Saudi Arabia, where traditional structures weigh heavily, and at the other by Kuwait (and to a lesser extent by Bahrain), which has shown, despite the Islamist gain of additional seats in the new parliament, a sustained and relatively high degree of structured participation in political life. Between those two extremes lie the UAE, Qatar and Oman.

Kuwait and Bahrain have so far successfully adopted the parliamentary system of governing and public participation through legislative bodies, a democracy that has allowed qualitative changes in both countries administration and institutions and created the necessary initiatives for free trade and global investment.

In contrast, other GCC countries, despite the immense development over almost 30 years are yet to opt for this system of elections and councils. But there are signs, however faint, that at least the UAE and Qatar are moving, though painstakingly slowly, in this direction. As a first step, last year the ruling families in the UAE organised an election process whereby half of the country's parliament (Federal Council) members (20) were elected by a carefully selected Electoral College, and the other half was appointed by the rulers of the seven emirates that make up the UAE. But interestingly enough, a year earlier (January 2006) the authority encouraged a process of free, transparent and publicly contested elections for the new board of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Trade and Industry. Over 400 candidates entered the American-style election (with full media campaign) fighting over 19 seats. Among the winners were two businesswomen and two well established foreign businessmen (Indian and Lebanese); their selection to join the Chamber's new board reflects the important role the expatriate community is playing in the country's growth. But the debate continues in the Gulf over these issues and many more. Is the process of change going too fast or too slow? Is the Gulf undergoing real change or is it simply involved in a global network? Should the process of change in the region welcome globalisation, or should it strive to retain its regional and Arab character? How can such change retain and assimilate the Gulf's unique features? To what extent should religion be allowed to interfere or determine public policy? And since education is vital in order to maintain links with others, what should be taught?

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The debate is widespread and reaches all levels of society, and all government and private sector institutions in the region. The most prestigious think-tank in the UAE, the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, known for its direct link to Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince and the country's Armed Forces Deputy Supreme Commander, General Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has recently thrown open these issues to frank and timely discussion in its 13th annual conference. Intellectuals and government officials from the GCC countries participated in the conference, in addition to speakers from Iraq and Iran.

It has to be noted though that some countries have managed to make headway in recent years and succeeded in improving the role of the local Imams. The UAE, interestingly, keeps its Imam under gentle but watchful eyes and its religious authority (Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs) regularly encourages the country's Friday prayer Imams to highlight issues that enhance social coherence and tolerance. Simultaneously, the Gulf leaders by and large tread very carefully when it comes to modernity and progress. In fact the reason behind the success in changes to date has been in ensuring that large parts of the society have been incorporated in ongoing development.

A famous story from the 1930s tells of how Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdulaziz, managed to convince the prominent and conservative Imam (Qadi) of Riyadh that the use of the telephone was religiously Halal. The Qadi considered that the introduction of telephone lines in the kingdom was unacceptable. King Abdulaziz was in Jeddah the day he called the Qadi, just before he was about to make the statement prohibiting the telephone. He spoke to him and recited some verses from the Koran. The conversation that followed ended with mutual agreement that the telephone was permissible.

This benignly patriarchal approach has been the necessary and in some cases the only style Gulfmodernisers have been able to follow in attaining their goals. To mere mortals the future will always contain uncertainty but looking around the dynamic, thriving cities that have risen up across the region, with the high rise glass and concrete towers that dominate once sleepy creeks and inlets, what can be said with confidence is there is no going back.