There is no doubt that this year will go down in history as the year of the Arab Spring. When the young Tunisian street hawker, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire this month last year, he could never have known that he would also set alight an extraordinary revolution that would free the Arab world from the shackles of dictatorship.
... the price of democracy is one worth paying- Simon Busuttil
Starting in Tunisia, the revolution quickly spread to Egypt and other countries. In some of them, such as Libya, it turned into a bloody civil war. In others, such as Morocco and Jordan, monarchs swiftly offered new democratic constitutions that would preserve their monarchy. And in others still, such as Syria and, to some extent, Yemen, the revolution is still under way.
All throughout, in Malta as in other countries across the world, we were stuck to our TV, computer and iPad screens as Hosni Mubarak dithered until he finally resigned. And we then held our breath in awe as Benghazi stood less than 24 hours away from capitulation, only to be saved at the last minute by a Nato-led no-fly-zone.
One by one, long-standing dictators, whom we all thought were there forever, fell like a house of cards. And those who reacted violently, like Muammar Gaddafi, were meted out with the worst treatment that can be expected from long-suffering people who, finally, take their destiny in their own hands.
Looking back at this year, I cannot help noting that many of my articles in this column were dedicated to this subject. My Facebook entries too are full of reactions to ongoing developments in Libya and other countries. After all, these are our neighbouring countries.
Likewise, in my work in the European Parliament, I co-signed several resolutions through which the House expressed its strong political views on what was happening.And we took the lead.
The most important was the one adopted on March 10 this year. It was the first resolution on Libya to call for the removal of Col Gaddafi and also to insist on the establishment of a no-fly zone and on contacts to be built with the National Transitional Council.
One week later, amid growing international pressure, the United Nations finally agreed to a no-fly zone, just in time to save Benghazi and, with it, the dream of a free Libya.
I am proud to have co-signed that resolution. I am also proud of the role that our country took in these historical changes.
True to our hospitable spirit, we coordinated one of the largest mass evacuations in recent history, hosting several thousand people fleeing from Libya and then we went on to take an active and sustained role in supporting the Libyan people with humanitarian aid.
But we also took risky political decisions to support the Libyan people rather than the Libyan dictator. We did this notably by hosting two Libyan pilots who flew their fighter jets to Malta rather than use them to quash the protests. Later, we refused landing to a Libyan military team that was destined to recover the jets.
That took a great deal of courage from our Prime Minister and a great sense of selfless solidarity. Compare that to the opposition that waited all the way to Col Gaddafi’s death until it finally welcomed Libya’s freedom.
As we reminisced on the year of the Arab Spring, last week in Strasbourg we honoured five revolutionaries with the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which is the European Parliament’s award for human rights.
They included Mr Bouazizi himself, who was awarded the prize post-mortem, and also Asmaa Mahfouz, an Egyptian blogger whose YouTube videos brought crowds to the streets in Egypt, and Ahmed El-Senussi, who was a political prisoner for 31 years in Col Gaddafi’s Libya.
Both Mr Mahfouz and Mr El-Senussi addressed the plenary last week to rapturous applause.
The prize was also given to two Syrians who are still fighting for freedom: Ali Ferzat, a cartoonist, and Razan Zaitouneh, a human rights lawyer. Both of them had to flee from Syria.
I hope that their award and their work will continue to draw attention to the plight of the Syrian people whose struggle for freedom also deserves to be fulfilled.
Yet, even as we stand in admiration of extraordinary events that have taken place, the truth is that this is just the beginning.
For having acquired their freedom, the people of these countries must now embark on the long and arduous task of rebuilding their countries. Almost from scratch.
Elections, political parties, independent state institutions, the judiciary, the economy, social welfare... It will be difficult to go through this process in a smooth manner – Egypt is a case in point – and it will also be difficult to live up to the high expectations of the people. Soon, they will be out to protest against the new governments and some might even yearn for the lost dictatorship.
But the price of democracy is one worth paying. And the Tunisians are, once again, leading the way having already held their first free elections and chosen a new constituent assembly.
Let us hope that 2012 will help all Arab people fulfil their dreams.
A Merry Christmas to the editor, staff and readers.
www.simonbusuttil.eu
Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.