alkhabar
Maghreb
Ben Ali in Tunisia was followed by Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and then most dramatically Moammer Gadaffi in Libya. The truth was that these regimes were chronically inefficient and offered very little to their people. The common man rose up and claimed his right to dignity and freedom from those who had long out stayed their welcome. Further afield Syria and Yemen are still in the throes of their convulsions.
The first surge of this traumatic upheaval has now settled in North Africa. The difficult process of the creation of a new democratic order is now underway. Morocco is resolving its coalition government. Tunisia has its Constituent Assembly working to create a new constitution and to pass its budget. Egypt is still gripped by uncertainty and confrontation and will not see the end of the process till the election of a new President in June 2012. Libya has to assert its new government and persuade the armed militias to disband. Algeria has yet to embark on democratic reform as laid out by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Morocco and Algeria appear to have avoided regime change and but nothing in this age of dramatic change is totally sure.
The North African region has everything to play for, a young population countries rich in resources and international support for their democratic processes . The urgent need is for their governments to confront the economic challenges facing them. There is no doubt that the region would be significantly strengthened by uniting and trading together in a mutally supportive way.
As well as the financial challenges that grip North Africa the spectre of terrorism, kidnapping, bombs and drug trafficking in the Sahel and Nigeria threatens this new democratic dawn in the region. It is a threat that has to be addressed and again we say North Africa Unite !
The first surge of this traumatic upheaval has now settled in North Africa. The difficult process of the creation of a new democratic order is now underway. Morocco is resolving its coalition government. Tunisia has its Constituent Assembly working to create a new constitution and to pass its budget. Egypt is still gripped by uncertainty and confrontation and will not see the end of the process till the election of a new President in June 2012. Libya has to assert its new government and persuade the armed militias to disband. Algeria has yet to embark on democratic reform as laid out by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Morocco and Algeria appear to have avoided regime change and but nothing in this age of dramatic change is totally sure.
The North African region has everything to play for, a young population countries rich in resources and international support for their democratic processes . The urgent need is for their governments to confront the economic challenges facing them. There is no doubt that the region would be significantly strengthened by uniting and trading together in a mutally supportive way.
As well as the financial challenges that grip North Africa the spectre of terrorism, kidnapping, bombs and drug trafficking in the Sahel and Nigeria threatens this new democratic dawn in the region. It is a threat that has to be addressed and again we say North Africa Unite !
