A tremendous autocratic wave is sweeping the globe, but what
will it take for a new democratic wave?
In a report by the V-Dem Institute, international democracy
has declined to 1986 tiers. According to the EIU Democracy Index, the Middle
East and North Africa are the ranked the lowest of all regions in the index — classed
as "authoritarian”.
اضافة اعلان
And despite the Arab Spring having been once a phenomenon,
analysts have claimed that Arab states are not equipped for democracy and that
democratic reforming is difficult if your nations are poor. Nevertheless, the
Arab Spring proved that the economy was a catalyst for the revolution.
People want higher participation, both politically and
economically, and movements like the Arab Spring, prove beyond doubt that
nations of all socio-economic backgrounds, want their voices to be heard.
Democracy, therefore, needs to be redefined.
No longer is democracy a political experience, but a stands
for economic fairness and participation as well.
From international to localComparing the Arab Spring to international revolution
movements, the Arab Spring was born out of starvation for democratic and
political participation.
No longer is democracy a political experience, but a stand for economic fairness and participation as well.
However, compared to the anti-capitalist protests in
Europe and the US with Occupy
Wallstreet, while the protesters may live in democratic and economically
advanced countries, individuals signaled a craving for financial fairness and
participation.
In short, protestors worldwide have been shut out of an
economic system dominated solely by a small crew of capitalist elites.
If we can expand our people's buying potential, especially
amongst the lower- income groups, we will be certain to create a good patron
market.
In Jordan, the concept is very simple.
If each Jordanian had one more Jordanian dinar to spend
every day, more to that will amount to JD11 million more circulating in the
financial system daily.
That is no small amount for the Kingdom’s economy
For this to happen, we need an approach that will
collectively elevate income levels, mainly those at the bottom stages of the
economy.
Democratizing the economyDemocratizing the economy, increasing get rights of entry to
economic investments, and participation to have greater opportunities.
By increasing abilities, this will routinely increase productivity
thereby permitting workers to expand their incomes.
Higher incomes will mean higher economic participation and
the end result is: a healthy economy.
In the absence of economic democratization in Jordan, there
is currently only focus and priority on
attracting foreign investment and providing tax facilities and resources
without paying attention to developing local investments.
If each Jordanian had one more Jordanian dinar to spend every day, more to that will amount to JD11 million more circulating in the financial system daily.
The building of alliances between various governmental,
private sectors and citizens to benefit from these opportunities. understanding
that the private sector in Jordan is a selective sector that suffers from the
absence of governance and transparency in many of its aspects.
An example of this is the ceramic factory in Qatraneh.
Located in southern Jordan, the company was established by a Chinese investor
who will benefit from the natural resources in Jordan and impose their
financial arrangements.
These natural resources for the production of ceramics are
available and cheaply in southern Jordan, in addition to Jordan's strategic
location in the center of the most important active markets in the world.
Unfortunately, because the economy and education are
crawling backwards and not forward in the Kingdom, we could not make this a
local investment opportunity with a direct return on citizens.
The simplest tools of participatory economic work are
absent; most Jordanian economy planners can’t look beyond their noses.
The union of five municipalities, for example, and financing
from a bank in addition to financing from important companies in the south,
especially phosphate and potash, will be sufficient to make this investment
national and provide a direct and indirect economic return to the country.
In this context, three concepts guide dedication to the
larger motive of economic democratization which simply means having a
people-centric government, not a private sector-centric government, we need to
listen to the people, do the people's work, and focus on the people.
The mission, therefore, lies in our capacity to benefit from
the fourth wave of democracy or the threat of being swamped and drowned via its
undercurrents. The international prerequisites are in our favor.
Read more Opinion and Analysis
Jordan News
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