|
Dubai: The conservative political structures in the Gulf are resisting change, despite the huge social and economic transformation that all Gulf societies have gone through in a generation as they became far richer and a lot more socially sophisticated.
The rapid economic development and the profound social changes over the past 30 years brought about by oil wealth and vastly improved education, have not been matched by any similar developments on the political side.
The populations are still not involved in the Gulf states' decision-making and legislative processes.
"On the political side, the social structure resists change and there is a growing gap between authority and society. A rift has been exposed between society, which continues to change, and political authority that seeks to preserve itself at any cost," said Khalid Al Dukhail, Assistant Professor of Political Sociology at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia.
The comments came as part of the three-day annual conference of the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, held last week in the Centre's very smart and modern premises in Abu Dhabi, looking at how the basically conservative Gulf Cooperation Council states are being forced to cope with profound change, which is being resisted by some parts of society and welcomed by others.
The conference focused on the complicated process of managing such change in a rapidly globalised world, and how to handle the impact of this change on the fragile societies of the six GCC nations.
The lack of political development in the Gulf was picked up by Michael Hudson, Professor of International Relations at Georgetown University in the US, a long established commentator on Gulf affairs.
He pointed out that there were some genuine political dangers in the lack of political development. "What elements boil away under the traditional patrimonial system?" he asked, and went on to list a few examples like "consultative institutions that lack power; restrictions on political organising; questions over human rights for permanent expatriates. Gulf states need to debate to find consensus on all sorts of issues: environment, urban management, sovereign wealth funds, political parties and organised labour."
Preserving structure
The main reason for the slow political development has been the need to preserve the structure of society. The slow approach that all Gulf states have taken to the decades of change their people have had to go through, has allowed the leaders to include all sections of society in the changes.
"Change has to be institutional, internal [not from the outside], peaceful [not forced], and it needs careful preparation and cannot be rushed," said Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah, Secretary General of the GCC, as he made the case for slow and careful change.
Her Highness Shaikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, Chairperson of the General Women's Union, also touched on the importance of gradual and continual change in her address to the conference, but she emphasised the importance of institutionalising change, so that development and progress will continue regardless of individuals.
She spoke of the importance of "consolidating the rule of law and justice, so as to afford each citizen the opportunity to develop their present situation and future prospects." Her emphasis on giving the individual the protection of a strong legal system continued as she referred to the importance of the late Shaikh Zayed's insistence on building state institutions.
Several speakers spoke of the problem of Gulf nationals being a minority in their own countries, and the serious implications that this is having on their society.
Expatriates
However, regardless of the social impact of the large numbers of foreigners living in the Gulf, curbing dependence on expatriate labour will be very difficult. "There is unprecedented talk of unemployment, but not all unemployed Gulf citizens have educational certificates. Labour ministers continue to complain about the poor skills of Gulf workers," said Khowla Mattar of the International Labour Organisation.
"And finally, will Gulf citizens be prepared to work in the construction, services, tourism and domestic service sectors, for salaries not exceeding $400 [Dh1,468] a month under working conditions described as 'modern slavery'?" said Mattar.
The impact of the large numbers of resident foreign workers in the Gulf was also part of the thoughts of Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, who spoke of how Gulf society has to work with the foreigners, since they are part of the economic growth of the region. "The community profile problems are changing the future of our societies. There are demographic dangers, but we need the expatriate labour," he said, also adding that "we need to protect our Gulf identity".
Several speakers spoke of the urgency of the need for society to develop political structures to be ready to face up to new challenges.
The slow process of political change was challenged by Ebtisam Al Katbi, Associate Professor of Political Science at the UAE University, who was outspokenly in favour of democratic reform.
"At present there is a deficient citizenship for the nationals in the UAE. People are loyal to the country but they feel marginalised. They are not integrated and are excluded from the decision making. The source of power is the people, and all forms of non-democratic citizenship will not work," she said.
|
