Final Declaration

Participants in the Doha conference on Democracy and Reform in the Arab world submit the following declaration to both leaders and peoples of the Arab world. The participants comprised over one hundred thinkers and politicians and politicians from the various Arab countries. They deliberated the prospects and obstacles of political change in the Arab world. Democratic change has become a non-negotiable choice which cannot be postponed. It has become unacceptable to confiscate political and civic rights of the Arab people which under diverse pretenses have been delayed at a time when most of the peoples of the world including a number of Islamic countries have undergone important democratic changes. Experiences throughout the world in the recent decades have proven that a politically free multi-party systems inclusive of political freedoms are not the sole monopoly of any given culture or civilization. Hence any excuses to resisting or delaying democratic change in our Arab countries are bu t poor excuses. Neither Arab culture nor the Islamic religion are in any form or shape contradictory to democratic practices and values. Two thirds of the 1.4 billion Muslims in the world today are already living under democratically elected governments.

The more recent history of some of the Arab countries during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century proves the possibility of applying democratic practices quite successfully whenever the opportunity arises notwithstanding the varying economic and cultural differences within these countries.

Hiding behind the necessity to resolve the Palestinian question before implementing political reform is obstructive and unacceptable. Historical experience have proven beyond doubt that liberation movements throughout the world and democratic reform movements which grant people their freedom of expression is the best way to liberate the land and the nation. Autocratic regimes are unable or unwilling to deal seriously with outside threats and hegemonic designs. There is ample evidence that these same regimes sometimes are ready to surrender their sovereignty to ensure their own survival. Democratic practice hence becomes the primary rule for peace between nations and an a priori condition for fulfilling true and real development. Democracies generally prefer peace and avoid aggression. Rarely do democratic countries go to war with one another.

We observe for instance the former Iraqi regime that tyrannized its own people and ventured into irresponsible military forays which ultimately led to foreign occupation of their country. While demanding the continuation towards independence and democracy in Iraq by ending occupation and the creation of a legally elected government we denounce the terror that innocents are being exposed to in Iraq today.

We the Arab advocates of democracy, who understand democracy to be the empowerment of citizens to regularly elect those who would represent them in laying down laws to rule societies in total freedom coupled with the freedom of ownership of the media and the assurance of human rights. In a democracy the government and the laws guarantee individual rights and security as well as environmental protection in order to realize full development that serves its people and responds to their needs. We demand the following:

1) We demand of all Arab regimes who do not have modern constitutions or basic laws to immediately legislate for their creation. The Arab nation is rich with its constitutional experts. Other Islamic, African, Asian, and Latin American countries enjoy democratic constitutions which can guide us and prove useful in our formulation of new constitutions. We equally demand of all the Arab regimes which do have constitutions to modify or amend their text in such a manner as to transform monarchies to constitutional monarchies where there will be a separation between hereditary monarchies and executive powers. The first is a symbol of the nation and the essence of its legitimacy and continuity. The second proposition would be for a head of government to be elected cyclically by the people and be required to undergo a peaceful transfer of power through direct popular elections or by parliamentary majority.

2) We demand of the Republican regimes that do have constitutions to modify the specific terms governing the choice of president of the republic by implementing competitive direct elections and restricting the powers and privileges of the president of the republic and by creating new terms that clearly state the means of democratic monitoring and accountability of the head of state and the possibility of loss of confidence (impeachment) from any of his deputies or assistants. We also demand of constitutional monarchies to organize and regulate the privileges of the rulers so as to bolster the role of the legislative and executive powers in decision making, and we recommend limited terms.

3) We demand of all Arab regimes be they monarchies or republics to take the initiative of abolishing emergency laws, special courts and national security courts in archaic forms and to return to natural laws and courts and to respect the rule of law and independent judiciary and to apply expeditiously without exception or discrimination all court rulings.

4) We ask of all regimes to abolish all restrictive laws that obstruct freedoms for individuals, press, and media which give the right of monopoly and ownership to the state or the interference in their affairs and the manipulation of governmental apparatuses such as financing or granting special permissions or licensing and supplying them with advertising materials and interfering in their production and work. The judiciary alone has the right to audit and monitor freedom of expression on the one hand and on the other it also has the duty to protect the rights of the nation as well as its reputation amongst nations.

5) We demand the abolition of all laws restricting citizens rights, their rights to establish political parties, organizations, trade unions, professional associations and civil society organizations. We demand the creation of new laws that grant full permission regarding the creation of associations; the exception to the rule would be the application of certain restrictions based on individual cases.

6) We demand of the ruling regimes and the political opposition parties to abide by national charters which will be promulgated in each state and which clearly delineate the principles of political participation and the respect of the rights of others including the right of transfer of power. We equally demand that regimes abide by majority rule in both spirit and text of the constitution. In addition we demand that governments not deprive any citizen from his/her civic and political rights on the basis of religion, sect, gender, ethnicity or language.
We reiterate the fact that religion fulfills spiritual needs and must be by definition separate from the political domain which primarily is couched in a language of charters and not in absolute terms and formulations. Life is in constant state of change and charters (which are man made) change in consequence.

7) We demand of the armed forces of every Arab country to desist of its own free will from interfering in politics and to be sure that its main duty is to protect the national soil and to refrain from becoming an instrument in the hands of any ruler or regime to toy with constitutions and the rule of law. That said armed forces should be akin to the judicial power in the service of their own nation and all citizens on an equal footing.

8) We demand the participation of women in political life and also reiterate her pivotal role in the process of democratic change and ensure her representation on all levels of political action, within representative institutions including political party structures and civil society organizations.

9) We demand of democratic forces and civil society organizations throughout the world, east and west, north and south to support the efforts of the Arab Advocates of Democracy (ADA) and to seize the opportunity of the wide spaces of freedom available in their respective countries to bring pressure on their own governments not only to find an expeditious and just solution to the two pressing questions of Palestine and Iraq and the just rights of their people to liberty and independence. We call upon current Arab regimes to desist from hiding behind these two causes in order to postpone political reforms, making them an excuse to obstruct democratic change in Arab nations and in the Middle East.

10) The participants recommend the creation of a practical instrument to monitor and follow up the recommendations and the initiatives of the valuable contributions that have been deliberated during the conference on Democracy and Reform held in Doha, Qatar as well as the other Arab reform initiatives such as those of Sanaa, Alexandria, and Beirut and to ask the Center of Gulf Studies in Qatar to become the coordinator of these initiatives with the concerned parties.