A widely held belief in the Arab world holds that some elements in the west secretly oppose democracy in the region because free and fair elections would produce anti-western governments. However, one overlooked aspect is the role that leading businesses in Arab countries play in stifling democracy.
The most glaring example of businesses in bed with authoritarian regimes became evident when anonymous posters appeared last summer in Cairo’s streets. They urged Gamal Mubarak, the influential son of Egypt’s president, to run for next year’s presidential elections to succeed his father.
Mustapha Kamal, a political science professor at Cairo University, commented that the “campaign began at the proposal of some businessmen who fear a deterioration in President Mubarak’s health and believe that it is better to quicken Gamal’s succession while his father is around”.
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