Tayyip Erdogan PM of Turkey and Mohammed Morsi President-elect of Egypt are the two bright stars shining on the firmament of the Muslim world. Erdogan is a repeatedly elected ruler of long standing with a series of success stories behind him. Morsi was recently elected President of Egypt with the support of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) after a period of turmoil following overthrow of Hosni Mubarak's decades-old corrupt rule.
BRIGHT STARS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD Last week Morsi spoke of the accomplishments of his government in the first 100 days of its rule. The backdrop was provided by a ceremony held to commemorate the 39th anniversary of Egypt's 1973 war against Israel which at the same time provided a marked contrast to Mubarak's weak policy vis-à-vis Israel's occupation of Jerusalem. The ceremony was attended by people in large numbers including MB workers as well as senior officials, Muslim and Christian clerics and members of the armed forces.
EGYPT'S QUICK ACHIEVEMENTS The highlight of the occasion was a review of achievements against a 64-point plan presented by Morsi during his election campaign which aimed to provide quick solutions to ease the life of the people suffering from problems related to traffic, security, the prices and availability of bread and fuel and waste disposal. Sounds familiar? Unlike our own Government in Pakistan, however, President Morsi came back to the people who elected him with a list of achievements of his government within 100 days of taking over. He claimed that his projects to solve the problems of traffic, rubbish, bread and fuel had been "achieved by 60 percent, 40 percent, 80 percent and 85 percent respectively". The fact that his speech and claims were received very enthusiastically by the large audience indicated that they agreed. Talking of corruption rampant in Mubarak's days, Morsi vowed "We will uncover all corruption".
RAPPORT WITH PEOPLE Among reactions from the crowed reported in the process I quote one as follows: "What I liked about his speech the most was the transparency with which he spoke," said Ragaa Hussein, a teacher who attended the rally. "He may not have achieved everything he promised, but he is on the right track," she told AFP at the stadium. And another: "The distance between the president and the people has decreased. We are now closer to the person that leads us," said Maher Abdel Hafiz, 58, a steel worker who is also an MB member. The occasion proved that there was strong rapport between the elected President and the people who elected him and were able to see and hear him at close range.
THE TURKEY SUCCESS STORY While Egypt has only begun its journey towards a bright future with a promising start, another Muslim country, Turkey, stands out as a beacon of light for the Muslim world. Erdogan's and his Justice and Development Party's (AKP), achievements of well over a decade are an object lesson on how through sheer intelligent, honest work by a sincere and dedicated leadership a whole country can be turned around into a fairly prosperous one within a few years. When Erdogan was first elected Turkey suffered from runaway inflation, poor, faltering economy, corruption, increasing poverty making miserable the life of ordinary people. The country was reduced to the status of a basket case dependent on dole and thus unable to follow an independent policy as a democratic Muslim country. All that is a thing of the past!
DESPOTIC, INTERFERING ARMY On the top of that the country was saddled with an Army which imposed its own will on the democratic government and had dismissed three of them within a period of not much over a decade. It had imposed on the country a strange form of secularism which did not allow Muslim women to wear scarves and made sure that practising Muslims were barred from higher education and from responsible positions in bureaucracy, armed forces and Judiciary.
ECONOMY REVIVED Within a decade Erdogan and his party brought about a sea change in the country. The economy was set on the right course by hard, honest, sustained effort so that today Turkey's economy occupies a place of honour among European economies and keeps growing. After his third win in General Elections Erdogan and his party finally managed to rein in the Armed forces which are now firmly under the control of Civil authority of a popular government.
STANDING UP TO THE SUPERPOWER A shining example of Turkish independent policy was its refusal to allow US Army passage through Turkey into Iraq (when America invaded Iraq in March 2003 on false pretenses) despite the fact that America retaliated by cancelling a very huge amount of financial assistance it had committed to Turkey at a time when Turkey badly needed that to support its then-faltering economy. Turkey's courage made Muslims around the world proud. Turkey's lead role in organising a food-and-medicines flotilla to the Gaza Strip to help beleaguered Palestinians suffering starvation and disease due to Israel's inhuman blockade is an example of Turkey's care for the Ummah. Dare we follow in Turkey's footsteps?
SUCCESS STORY FROM NON-WESTERN, NON-MUSLIM WORLD President Hugo Chavez known for his independent, even defiant rule (especially vis-a-vis America) was elected President of the oil-rich South American country of Venezuela for the third time last week in an election in which there was a record turnout of 81%. Chavez election campaign was based on his record of achievement on a three point agenda: 1) two hundred thousand decent housing units were delivered to the people across the country as part of a plan to build two million. 2) Retirement benefits were given to a million people who had no social security and 3) labour laws were reformed to give job security, post-natal leave for working mothers, end of employment outsourcing among several other worker friendly measures. 4) Oil which the country produces in abundance was made available to the people at a price cheaper than water's in an excellent example of sharing the largesse! This compares with the promise of Roti, Kapra and Makan by our rulers in Pakistan without any mention of what was actually achieved, if anything.
OUR OWN HOMELAND Let us take a reluctant look at our own country today. Lost from its ideological moorings, rudderless and directionless the country appears to be going nowhere except into dangerous, unchartered waters. A Pandora's Box is open and has been open for quite some time. Corruption is rampant and shows no sign of coming down. Judiciary's efforts to prosecute and punish the guilty (when they happen to be the high and the mighty or those close to them) are thwarted by the Executive arm of the state at every level. Officials with serious charges against them are put in charge of departments responsible for security, accountability and prosecution. Honest Bureaucrats are forced into retirement or made non-functional while corrupt ones are promoted. Not surprisingly a recent survey of public opinion showed corruption on the top of the scale in importance.
SHAKY ALLIANCES Alliances based on selfish, short term interests are playing havoc with governance as no time is left to attend to a myriad problems faced by an increasingly miserable populace. Take the example of the Local Government fiasco in Sindh. The design of a system which would satisfy both the indispensable but on-again-off-again PPP ally in Karachi and at the same time not antagonise "Sindhi nationalist" has occupied too much time and attention of President Zardari and PPP in Sindh for over two years now. "Final" announcement about the specifics of the LG system have been made at least twice but the outcome is still uncertain with PPP worried in the extreme about losing part of its support in its traditional backyard. This is cited here as an example of how politics without any guiding principles is paralysing governance. Several other examples can be quoted.
ROUTINE MURDERS Daily murders whether for extortion or for eliminating political opponents are common. Terrorists strike at will at targets of their choosing not sparing police and armed forces. The government is seen as spineless when dealing with America and subservient to it. No move is visible - not even first steps - towards solving the problems faced by the country and the people. In short we present a dismal scenario quite unlike that in Egypt, Turkey or Venezuela. Will the next General Election herald an improvement is a question very difficult to answer given the state of unpreparedness of most parties for bringing about a turnaround in the country's affairs?
(owajid@yahoo.com)