Middle East Focus: Democracy in Arab States: is Bad Better than Worse? that Famously Missing Humor.......

Arabia Deserta

Democracy in Arab States: is Bad Better than Worse? that Famously Missing Humor.......

"Jordan ranked first and Saudi Arabia last in a new report card on the state of democratic reforms in the Arab world. The Arab Democracy Index was released Monday in Paris……… The index is composed of 40 indicators of democracy - such as whether countries have legal guarantees against torture, hold periodic and fair elections, or promote gender equality. Jordan is ranked first, with a score of 620 out of a possible 1,000 points. Curiously, Shikaki says, Jordan does a much better job enshrining democracy through practice than in laws. Saudi Arabia ranks last and, Shikaki says, it is doing a poor job in both law and practice…….”

I have no issue with Saudi Arabia being at the bottom of the list. The ruling princes don’t even pretend that they have, or want, or seek such evil things as democratic participation, free speech, or accountability. I take issue with Jordan being at the tops. It is a quai-police state (I insert quasi here just to be polite, almost all Arab countries are fully-fldged certified police states).
And I haven’t even mentioned anything about that famously missing Jordanian humor yet.
Cheers
mhg

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