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Mention political Islam in Indonesia or Turkey and you are talking about political parties in power, leading their countries on economic and social issues whilst promoting an Islamic political vision and mobilizing Muslim identity politically.
Despite difficulties, as in Turkey, with the political establishments, sometimes Western-backed, tending to fear and repress political Islam even when mildly expressed and democratically elected. The Turkish Welfare Party was elected as part of a governing coalition under Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan in 1996 but forced out of power by the Turkish military in 1997, suspected of an Islamic agenda. In 1998 the Welfare Party was banned for violating the principle of secularism in the constitution. The ban was surprisingly upheld by the European Court of Human Rights in February 2003. This was criticized as inconsistent by Human Rights Watch. Now the Justice and Development Party is in power, pro Western, pro NATO, pro liberal economy, rooted in similar ideas to the Welfare Party, but very annoyed with Israel, a traditional Turkish ally, about the Gaza war. The Turkish model seems to say political Islam can become moderate and mainstream. In Algeria the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) had won elections in June 1990 and December 1991. They defeated the one-party rule secular FLN, widely regarded as corrupt and useless. The military coup to stop the FIS was Western-backed. The subsequent civil war was long and recovery slow. The Algerian model, to destroy democracy in order to save it, does not seem the best way. But the Iranian option, to try to synthesize theocracy alongside a modern democracy, ends up being too contradictory, with moral guardians telling us who we cannot elect, and young people wanting more freedom, while Islamist populists try to run modern economies (badly), until there are political and economic reforms. So way before 9.11, there seems to be a history of political Islam sometimes mobilizing wide support to bring down yesterdays men, followed by a cycle of banning or repression, usually Western backed, for fear of “Islamic radicalism”. What was done to Hamas in the last three years by Israel and the West makes more sense as a continuation of these same policies, spiced up with Middle East politics. Hamas was elected because they were not corrupt and their charitable social services were efficient and respected. Also because they did not agree with an early or easy peace agreement with the Israelis, and envisaged a long struggle to get a better deal. Since the Gaza war opinion polls indicate that Hamas now has more support in the West Bank than in Gaza, and could beat Fatah in both, so it could win new general and Presidential elections, or lead a national coalition. (Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre, Gulf News 05.02.09). Fatah reportedly wants to remove constituency voting and go back to party lists because its´ old fashioned, centralized unwieldy coalition built on family patron client relationships as well as factions is more suited to party lists. By contrast Hamas is a rather more modern political structure, which can win elections on its reputation for honesty, its track record of effective charitable work and appeal to a broad coalition based on Muslim identity, including secular support. Hamas can cope perfectly well with constituency based representative elections. In more normal conditions Hamas might represent similar voters and activists to the Justice and Development Party in Turkey (AKP) or the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in Indonesia, or possibly the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). Is there any chance that political Islam in the Middle East, and those who are so afraid of it, can learn any useful lessons from Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia where people are learning to come to terms with political Islam, and vice versa? Dr. Terry Lacey We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com So please email your article today Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of WardheerNews |
