Rice makes case for democracy in Islamic world
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a forceful case for democracy in the Muslim world today, telling Egypt’s conservative government leaders “the fear of free choices can no longer justify the denial of liberty”.
Rice’s remarks were to some 700 invited government officials, academics and other guests at the American University in Cairo.
The setting is notable, both because Egypt plans multi-party elections in the autumn and because the Bush administration has made no secret of its dissatisfaction with political progress and the treatment of opposition figures by the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
“For 60 years, my country, the US, pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region, here in the Middle East, and we achieved neither,” Rice said. “Now, we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people.”
She noted that US President George Bush, in his second inaugural address, said the US would not try to impose an American style of government on the unwilling and that the goal of his administration was to help others find their own voice.
“Throughout the Middle East the fear of free of choices can no longer justify the denial of liberty. It is time to abandon the excuses that are made to avoid the hard work of democracy,” Rice said.
Rice took the governments of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, both close US allies, to task for cracking down on dissent.
In Saudi Arabia, she noted, three people are currently in jail for petitioning the government. “That should not be a crime in any country,” she said.
She lauded Mubarak for calling for elections but said she was concerned for the future of Egypt’s reforms because of the violence that has faced “peaceful supporters of democracy”.
“President Mubarak has unlocked the door for change. Now, the Egyptian government must put its faith in its own people,” Rice said. “The Egyptian government must fulfil the promise it has made to its people, and to the entire world, by giving its citizens the freedom to choose.”
Rice is midway through a Middle East tour marked by two main themes: the importance of success in the on-again, off-again Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the more nebulous notion that democracy is a realistic antidote for hopelessness and hatred.
