(contents)
Chapter 4: War and Peace in The Middle
East (5)
091 Dictatorship shadows citizens’ peaceful
life (2/3)
However, dissatisfaction had grown little by little in the heart of people during their peaceful life. It was not due to lack of goods. Low-income citizens were awaked to the economic disparity in their daily life and asked for change. It was dictators who took the opportunity in such atmosphere politically and grabbed the power. The dictator was not a tyrant from the beginning. He firstly appeared as a sophisticated person with nation-wide popularity. This was seen not only in the Middle East but also in many developing countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. But it was worthy to say that the dictatorship in the Middle East appeared intensively after the Ramadan War, and has kept power for a very long period of 30 to 40 years since then. It was surprising that some of them still keeps power.
Chronologically, the duration of dictatorship in the
Middle East was as follows; Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Libya (1969-2011),
President Hafiz and Basher al-Assad in Syria (1971- present), President Ali
Abdullah Saleh in Yemen (1978-2012), President Saddam Hussein in Iraq
(1979-2003), President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt (1981-2011), President Ben Ali in
Tunisia (1987-2011) and President Omar al-Bashir in Sudan (1989-2019). The
shortest one was 24 years tenure of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Ben Ali in
Tunisia respectively. Assad family of Hafiz and Basher is still sitting in a
dictator's chair for nearly half century.
Dictatorship in the Middle East began in 1970s and 1980s.
And many of dictators slipped down from their power in 2011 and 2012.
"Arab Spring" which was taken place at the end of 2010 made them step
down.
(To be continued ----)
(From an ordinary citizen in the cloud)
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