ZFBoxcar

There is a wide range of democratisation across the Middle East, a survey by a leading research and advisory firm has found.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked 20 countries on 15 indicators of political and civil liberty.

The Index of Political Freedom lists Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Iraq and the Palestinian Territories as the most democratic parts of the region.

Libya received the lowest rating, below Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Reform resisted

The EIU scored each country on a 10-point scale, awarding one point for the least political freedom and 10 for the most.

INDEX OF POLITICAL FREEDOM
Israel: 8.20
Lebanon: 6.55
Morocco: 5.20
Iraq: 5.05
Palestine: 5.05
Kuwait: 4.90
Tunisia: 4.60
Jordan: 4.45
Qatar: 4.45
Egypt: 4.30
Sudan: 4.30
Yemen: 4.30
Algeria: 4.15
Oman: 4.00
Bahrain: 3.85
Iran: 3.85
UAE: 3.70
Saudi Arabia: 2.80
Syria: 2.80
Libya: 2.05
Source: EIU

The analysts found little evidence of democratisation in some countries.

Sitting at the bottom of the table, Libya has long had a reputation as one of the world's worst violators of human rights.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's government has also long restricted freedom of expression and independent political activity.

Saudi Arabia held its first ever exercise in democracy in February 2005 when it held municipal elections, but remains an absolute monarchy that has resisted pressure for reform.

Syria, meanwhile, is renowned for its authoritarian rule even though there has been a degree of liberalisation under President Bashar al-Assad.

Progress

Though there are few surprises at the bottom of the table, the top five may raise eyebrows.

It contains three of the most volatile parts of the region: Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories and Iraq.

FREEDOM INDICATORS
-Election of head of government
-Election of parliament
-Fairness of electoral laws
-Right to organise political parties
-Power of elected representatives
-Presence of an opposition
-Transparency
-Minority participation
-Level of corruption
-Freedom of assembly
-Independence of the judiciary
-Press freedom
-Religious freedom
-Rule of law
-Property rights
Source: EIU

BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says there is unquestionably a new mood in the region, but progress has been uneven.

Lebanon is free in a very particular sense: it is no longer under military occupation.

Most Palestinians do not enjoy that freedom, and yet they have just had local elections and are preparing for parliamentary ones in January, our correspondent says.

As for Iraq, its high score is a bit surprising, given the level of violence there, our correspondent says.

Iraqis no long live under a dictatorship and now have plenty of publications and political parties to choose from. But their freedom of movement is constrained by the bombings and kidnappings, and that is a big limitation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4450582.stm

Monk

Surely on these issues Oman is head and shoulders above the rest of the middle eastern states. If the author of the report hasn't recognised this...then the report needs to be in only one place....

__________________
"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those others that have been tried from time to time. "

"Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed."

Sir Winston Churchill

ZFBoxcar

First of all, you only selected 6 out of 15 categories, secondly do you really think Oman is better than Israel on those things? I'm not saying Oman should be where it is on the list, but I don't think it should be number one.

Monk

I was not talking about the whole index per se, my interest was limited to those points I highlighted.

Its difficult for me to assess Israel since I haven't had the fortune of living there.

No.1 is a highly subjective perception, I can substitue 15 other parameters of freedom on that list and oman would be No.1.

And to be frank, most of these "studies" have a marked anti-arab sentiment specifically anti-gulf states. And why is the Economist "Intelligence" unit carrying out this exercise in political and civil liberties? Deosn't make sense, does it?

Confed999

It's their job. They also aren't the only ones, Freedom House is the name of another.

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No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

Leader

" I can substitue 15 other parameters of freedom on that list and oman would be No.1."

I don't see how that could be true. It's an index of political freedom.

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Monk

Gotcha.....yo git.