We learned, long ago, that elections are not a panacea indicator of ‘democracy’ because they can be staged and corrupted, but democracy without free and open elections is not a possibility. Mohammed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and an Egyptian citizen, has emerged as a potential Presidential candidate in Egypt. While a recent rally on his behalf in Egypt was allowed (reportedly because it was not expected to gather many attendees) in recent days his supporters have been harassed inside Egypt and been arrested and deported from nearby Kuwait, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. Dr. ElBaradei is reported to have more than 200,000 followers on a Facebook page. The Kuwaiti’s arrested and deported ElBaradei’s supporters because Kuwait “does not allow demonstrations in this country” – but there was no reported ‘demonstration’ only a meeting of expatriates at a local café. Kuwaiti law doesn’t allow any groups of more than 20 people to assemble without a permit. This would appear to make a social party illegal and perhaps some family gatherings. It is also a vague reminder of days in the USA, first under slave laws, and then later when Jim Crow Laws first began to made it illegal for more than five black people to gather together in any location, to be seen in public parks, or participate in representative democracy via elections.

By mtendaji
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 at 7:46 pm and is filed under Democracy, Development, Human Rights Defenders, mtendaji. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.