Saudi Gazette Tunisia and Egypt were governed by tyrannical regimes until the tyrants fell from power. Although some other Arab countries are suffering from the same political malady, they may not experience the same political upheaval. Tyrannical regimes, which govern some countries nowadays, are pitted against their own people because there are always conflicting interests between the dictators and the people they govern. Sometimes the conflict is overt, but most of the time it is covert. Most of the time, the regime wants to impose policies that contradict what the people want. Tyrannical regimes often reject the demands of the people for fear that they could be destabilizing. Despots rule with iron fists to stay in power, often with support from within and outside the country. People, armed with their ideals of political virtues, such as freedom, justice and equality, win when they get more support. The more support they get, the closer they are to victory. History tells us that democratic transformation is often inevitable. One of the inevitable facts in history is that people always want to run their own affairs through a representative democracy. Tyranny is out of vogue these days because people have seen that it is evil and inherently oppressive and does not serve the interests of the majority. The policies of Ben Ali and Mubarak, which led to the impoverishment of Tunisia and Egypt, shackled their people with restrictive laws and made a mockery of the principles of freedom, justice and equality. This led to unrest in Tunisia, which was triggered by the self-immolation of a college graduate who could not find a job in his homeland. That was the last straw, so to speak. It is now history that the Tunisian unrest triggered the Arab Spring that engulfed Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Algeria and Syria, which were all governed by political tyrants. While it is true that each Arab country has its own particular political conditions, most of them have been afflicted by the same malady. What happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya is likely to happen in all of the countries ruled by tyrants. It is almost impossible for tyrannical regimes to stop the tide of change toward democracy. The challenge that they face is to undertake reforms or be swept into the dustbin of history. So far, Arab countries with the monarchial form of government have not been affected by the Arab Spring because their rulers are receptive to the call for reforms. These countries are more developed and stable. (Dr. Sadaka Y. Fadhel is a Member of the Shoura Council and Professor of Political Science.) __
