Democracy is the only defense against corruption

Azzeddine By: Azzeddine Bensouiah

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Maghreb countries rank among the most corrupt countries in the world.

This is hardly surprising, given the state of democracy in these countries and, by extension, of the entire legal system supposed to deal with this phenomenon.

Authoritarian regimes are not entitled to an independent judiciary. Corruption finds a fertile ground in such environments, and is encouraged by the leaders who, unfortunately, set a bad example.

No matter how hard we try to adapt national legislation to international conventions in terms of fighting corruption; how many bodies we create; and how many judges and security officials we train for the same purpose, all that will be useless as long as the political power does not give up its control over the judiciary and, by extension, the security services.

And yet, not a day goes by without news reports about new corruption scandals, and courts issuing judgments in new corruption cases.

However, this is only part of the answer to the phenomenon, because in reality, this evil that is plaguing the state and gnawing away at society, cannot be fought neither by an inflation of laws, nor with specialized bodies.

When ordinary citizens find it normal to bribe the municipal agent to obtain a paper from the registry office, and to pay a secretary to enroll their children at school or university, this means that average citizens have accepted to play the game of corruption.

The wind of democratization blowing across the Arab world bears hope, since a greater democratization of Maghreb societies should allow a greater freedom of expression.

People should be allowed to express themselves and city affairs should be managed with transparency, in order to weaken and further combat corruption. Political parties and associations ought to lead the way.

The press should be able to do its job without any constraints or diktats, so that transparency may gain ground to intimidate corrupt officers and bribe givers.

Democracy means that a magistrate should be able to hold anyone accountable on behalf of the people, whether it is a minister, a director, an unemployed individual, or even a president.

This is the only way to fight corruption.

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بن نعوم ابراهيم About about 1 year ago

I do not think that the democratic approach is the effective cure that will bring about an end to the methods of corruption on which the regimes of the Maghreb countries. This is because the mentality and reason with which the ruling class operates are derived from the corruption of the law, deterrence punishment and retribution of those who commit a crime. We have an arsenal of criminal laws but we do not enforce any of them. Does democracy for the people mean the right to vote, elect and involve women in politics and childhood rights and other such rights only, which we have adopted from Western democracies? The only solution is for the corrupt to abandon their corruption. This were deterrence comes in. If there is embezzlement, the punishment should be imprisonment and the seizure of movable and fixed assets belonging to the corrupt. We see the parliament discussing corruption and passing laws against it, yet, it is the very source of corruption. Citizens need to feel safe and secure in life, and to practice their right to trade and grow produce; the right to move around and to move their money, and the right to achieve success. If these are not there, what is the point in empty talk, criticism and expressing one’s opinion, or talking about unrealistic theories that are useless in daily life matters? Practicing individual and group freedoms and promoting them as matter of prayer and a reminder to those who do not have any idea about how to be cured from changing one name to another, while man remains stagnant living an illusion about what will lift people up from hell to a paradise. Corruption, is what offers us guidance in the right to deal and practice one’s citizenship, when in fact they are falsehood itself. If you are following the issues in in your surroundings, well, you might notice how development projects are given to people who do not know much about the field which they are entrusted with to develop. The main thing here is wasting money, receiving commissions, imaginary partnership, protection from punishment, misleading the administration, which is the other “corruption”, escaping monitoring by the monitoring authority. Therefore, a democratic system is not the solution. If we enjoy these intended rights, while we suffer under the absence of deterrence, the spread of vice and poor ethics, the violation of sanctities, and the weakness of religion and religiosity and everything else that has no relation to human values as Muslims and Arabs who have freedom components

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بن نعوم ابراهيم About about 1 year ago

We have to be guided with practices derived from our true Islamic religion, our Arab and Amazigh heritage being full of rules & systems that govern relations existing between individuals & groups. We all have read about how life was organized by the Amazigh before Islam. Family was distinguished by dignity, appreciation and obedience to the old and respect to the young. Women had the right to preside over the family and to choose a suitable husband whether from the tribe or from the family. Loyalty prevailed, and settlement of disputes and finding solutions for Arab Tuareg used to be done by appealing to the tribe-council, which was a pre-Islamic system totally free from corruption, as long as the group of people was consolidated, consistent and secure with its defense mechanisms, ties & allies. Through Islam, Muslims became stronger, they were after solidarity, affection and peace, as Islam totally, fully and adequately prohibited usurping money, honor, or freedom of slaves. We have to understand that we are not in need of that type of freedom that leads to the deterioration of ethics, spreads corruption, and undermines social structures under the pretext of freedom. To be humanitarian, the human thinking has to be tied up with development & growth, not with the expanding of the market of wine, vice & corruption. If we can provide all this, we will reach the understanding of the practice of democracy in public life.

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Anonymous About about 1 year ago

Sheikh Khaled from Sougueur. HELLO TO YOU ALL. With this mindset, it’s impossible to fight corruption, which has become a culture infecting all sectors, including religious affairs. In the past, just like in the present, weeds never die. Democracy is the only remedy against corruption. There is no happiness without freedom. Unity is strength, on the right path. GOD gave us all we need, and drew the right path for us, but western policies have caused the deviation of all Arab nations. Careful, careful and watch out for failed nations, which only think about killing, stealing, and vandalizing. We support the reconciliation of all nations on planet earth. We must have friends and enemies; friends to teach us our duties, and enemies to force us to perform them. Life is worth nothing, but nothing is worth life. Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire. Long live all the nations that respect their neighbors, populations and cultures. The dangers that can destroy a nation are: Drugs, alcohol, revolution, bad journalists who have a double-edged sword, high officials who are thieves and can sell their nation, racism, fanfare leaders, fake officials who go to cabarets… The dangers of Man are: drugs, alcohol, racism, hatred, traffic, tobacco and bad education. The backbone of a nation is education. Long live Algeria.

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Anonymous About 11 months ago

In the Name of God the most merciful and prayer and peace be upon His Messenger. I think that the most eloquent way to expresses the concept of democracy is respect. From a mental perspective we see that democracy is a moral behavior. Therefore before we talk about democracy as the only solution against corruption which is self-evident we must look for ways to create a democratic mentality, and here we are talking about a new generation (because our generation was raised in a corrupt manner.)Hence, to have a true democracy there must be a generation with a democratic mentality in its majority. This is not achievable in the short term by virtue of the deteriorated patterns of moral and psychological education of children at the family level in most of its segments and in the general public. This deterioration is passed down from generation to generation, especially in the absence of an intellectual revolution with regard to practicality and application (such as the intellectual revolution of the Association of Muslim Scholars.) This revolution can not occur easily and effectively under the watch of a corrupt system and a rule conniving with corruption (one of the consequences of corruption, if not one of its objectives is to prevent a man to be a man and a women to be a woman in a human and moral sense). I wanted to say two things: – Democracy is above all a mental state, a moral and educational matter from a young age. _ Rulers will always be from the elite of the majority (ie, the majority of the community). O Lord, we have but your mercy, O Most Merciful

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The question: Maghreb countries received low scores in the newly released Corruption Perceptions Index for 2011. How can the newly elected governments in the region address the issue of corruption?

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