Manifesto:
The constitution amendments in the Arab countries in order to provide less powers for presidents and reduce their ruling span to ensure fair running of the countries resources. There is need for creation of anti-corruption bodies to investigate past corruption cases in order to bring justice and eradicate corruption among other leaders through equal distribution of resources among the regions in the country. The natural resources should be equally allocated to all regions to ensure a balance in the national cake. These will boost development because firms and industries will be set up in all regions that will eventually create job opportunities for the youth. The countries need to ensure that there are no conflicts caused by those in power as they are required to protect the fundamental rights of their citizens. These include freedom of speech and of the press among the people, freedom of worship, provision of equal rights between men and women, security of citizens from the police and other hazards, ensuring free and fair elections and freedom of association
Provision of employment opportunities to her citizens should be given priority among the people. The provision of quality education should be based on the learner’s ability irrespective of their religion, background, gender and race. Religion should not be considered while recruiting employees in all the public offices as all citizens have the right to work in their country despite the above factors. All public offices need to recruit personnel without basing employment on gender but on educational qualification.
Provision of Services among the people in relation to their freedoms and right involves a corresponding duty by those in power. For effective performance all citizens must acquire a sense of moral responsibility towards his fellow men and take an active part in the affairs of the country. The process of constructing more social amenities in rural and expansion of infrastructure such as roads, railways and communication systems to all regions of the nation will boost the economy. New roads, railways and airports are supposed to be constructed and also maintain the existing ones. The government should also set up proper network system across the nation without eliminating other regions on basis of their voting outcome. There is need for Equality in provision of judgment among men and women in all the legal sectors. Through equal access to education, job opportunities and involvement in public affairs will regain confidence in its citizens and instill more pressure for them to participate actively in economic activities that will raise the GDP of the country and also improve the living standards of the people.
Body:
The unrest state in the Middle East countries like Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and others has brought about much concern to the entire globe. The revolution began in Tunisia that was being led by former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali who had ruled the country with an iron hand. With Tunisia being a focal point, it led to spread of the calls for democracy in other Arab nations across the Middle East. The long oppress imposed on the people over a long time has given them the urge to fight for their rights and freedom despite the outcome. Most of the rebels have formed organizations that are determined to fight until their needs are addressed fully by their leaders whom they elect (“Middle East”).
The Dictatorial rule by leaders in the countries has been a major cause of the uprisings as the natives have reached a state of no return with the way of running the political arena. These have led to the rise of ant-imperialism struggle, communist hunt and continuous protesting against the unfair leadership. The citizens have been denied their freedoms on all the political matters of their country. The ever deteriorating living standards among the people and un-equal distribution of resources among the population as forced them to rise against their governance. Rulers like, Ali-Ben, Mubarak among others did not fully meet the expectations of the citizen as they were seen as blocks to development and reforms. The leaders have been in power for long periods (decades) yet they are not willing to live the offices despite calls from the people i.e. Gaddafi of Libya and the Syria president. The power of the youth through mass protests in the streets demanding for accountability by the executives has led to fall of regimes of Ben Ali and Mubarak (Dalton).
Unemployment has been ranked among other factors that have led to the Arab uprising as the high percentages of its population are striving for search of employment opportunities. The high ratio of youth who are unemployed as there are no opportunities in their economies yet the economy is valued as being stable i.e. in the Tunisian economy where one of the youth (Mohamed Bouazizi) committed suicide that resulted to protests among the students and other youth. The lower and middle income earners experience low living standards due to high inflation, low real wages and increase in dismissal of employees due to increase in costs of production among firms. The rise is aimed at creating a new political and economic situation with the aim insuring a balance of power across the region. Lack of jobs among the youth is a rampant situation that is common in most nations as most of the youth prefer white collar jobs hence they do not give priority to other forms of employment such as farming and carrying out your own business in order to earn a living.
The political domination and restriction on fundamental freedoms among the people as they view as if power is being taken away from them as they are denied freedom of expressing their views, holding peaceful protests, restricting media from highlighting crucial issues in the society and manipulating the election to favor the presidents allies. Incidences of violence to the public by the police and the abuse of public offices with those in authority are among the issues that had become a routine practice forcing people to react against them. The mismanagement of funds through corruption cases by those in the authority focus on their personal gains using the country’s resources without considering the public’s interests (Hurewitz 240). The funds embezzled could be used in carrying out government expenditure, development of infrastructure, setting up of social amenities and creation of new industries and factories that could provide employment opportunities to the youth.
Technology is another reason that led to unrest in the Middle East countries for instance the use of twitter and face book among the youth spread the contagion effect among the people across the Middle East. Through sending messages such as “the regime must go” fuelled the spread of protest and unity among the youth in attaining their set mission as there was proper channel of communication regarding their activities. The media also played a crucial role in the spread of revolution among the Arab countries e.g. through CNN and Aljazeera, the people were able to seen and follow the proceedings in other Arab nations. For instance, Egyptians followed the proceedings in Tunisia through the media and other forms of communication that motivated them to move to streets to call for their rights and freedoms. The Egyptians were also fighting to protect their image among the outside world as they were being portrait as leaders in the Middle East due to the leaders “pride and dignity”. As their governance was portrait as one of those countries supporting impunity through its practices to its natives.
In conclusion the Arab uprising has resulted to both positive and negative impact in their economy. Through the demonstrations, they have been able to topple the past regime of corrupt and dictator leaders and elect their leader of choice. The uprising has created awareness of bad leadership across the globe forcing the western countries to intervene and call for the rights and freedom of the incent citizens. The killing of incent people in Libya has forced the international council (united Nation security council) to intervene by sending its forces to protect the citizens from further killings. It has also ordered for a no flying zone to the nation so as to monitor the forces that are loyal to Gaddafi (Hurewitz 244). The situations have paralyzed the entire economies of the involved countries as they are unable to carry out their daily economic activities that boost the economy. The tourism sector and transport sectors have been adversely affected by the demonstrators since tourists cannot visit countries undergoing political instabilities (Pilger).
The uprising has resulted in loss of life of many civilians who have died through police shooting, stampings and bombings through air strikes. The state has led to an increase in the international oil prices as the entire world depends on oil from the Arab countries. As a result the transportation costs have increased, rise in food prices and high inflation rate has risen steadily across the globe.
Recommendations
The leaders are called upon to fully address the needs of their subjects without favoring as they are all mandated to serving them. Leadership should not be personalized to become family affair as most leaders prefer handing power to the sons and close relatives after their terms have ended. The needs of citizens should be a major priority of the leaders they are called upon to ensure education to its citizens, employment opportunities and fair election process during the election process. The revenue gained from the country’s economic activities should be distributed equally among the region of the nation to provide equality in development process. The rights and freedoms of the citizens should be adhered to without favoring any gender as they are all equal before Allah. There is a call for the government to engage in activities that are productive such as irrigation that will ensure food security among the people that will reduce experiencing food shortages.
The public should be allowed to demonstrate peaceful without interference from the government. The government should fund institutions in training various entrepreneur skills, management skills and other skills that will create an avenue for self employment to its citizens. Through this, the youth will be able to acquire knowledge and use the skills and ideas in setting up business that will create an impact in their living standards. All the higher learning institutions should be upgraded to meet the current levels of education to provide qualified personnel who will have an impact on the country’s financial system.
Works Cited
Dalton, Richard. “Libya uprising: What next for Gaddafi's regime?” Chathamhouse.org. Chatham House, 20 Feb. Web. 10 May. 2011.
“Middle East unrest: Egypt and Tunisia to Jordan and Yemen.” Channel4.com. Channel 4 News, 02 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 May. 2011.
Hurewitz, Jacob C. Soviet-American rivalry in the Middle East. Columbia: Praeger, 1969. Print.
Pilger, John. “The Revolt in Egypt is Coming Home.” Antiwar.com. AntiWar, 10 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 May. 2011.
