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- 7:29AM Bahrainis pour into protest square, grand prix scrapped
- 7:02AM Arab revolts raise new immigration fears in Europe
- 6:50AM Libya's Kadhafi under siege as cities overrun
- 2:04AM Yemen president vows not to quit as protests spread
- 1:06AM European nationals, companies flee Libyan unrest
Back on Jan. 29, 2011, I posted the growing turmoil in the Arab World ! In that post , I cited the instability in Tunisia, uncertainty in Yemen , anger in Lebanon and upheaval in Egypt! I then asked aloud which Arab country will be troubled next !
Well , there is still uncertainty in Yemen as protests continue against the government of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on issues of " 35 % unemployment , high prices. and a nearly stagnant economy" .Similarly, in what became known as the Tunisian "Jamine" Revolution, a sudden and
explosive wave of street protests ousted the authoritarian president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled with an iron hand for 23 years. On January 14, Mr. Ben Ali left the country, after
trying unsuccessfully to placate the demonstrators with promises of
elections. According to government figures issued later, 78 protesters
died and 94 were injured during the demonstrations. " .A new coalition government has since then been formed in Tunisia but is in great danger of collapsing. On the other hand , anger is still simmering in Lebanon even with a new government in place.The shocker was Egypt which resulted to the fall of longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak less than two weeks after my post on the Arab World's unrest!
I thought the turmoil in the Arab world will cool down with the ouster of Mubarak and little did most people expect that more Arab countries will be troubled by growing protest actions from the masses.
Now ,who would ever think that Libya , Bahrain and even Morocco will be disturbed by the protest actions of their masses!
Libya ? Military strongman Muammar Abu Minyar al- Khadafi , the "Colonel" , besieged in the country he has controlled and ruled for 40 years? He was even rumored to have fled Libya for Venezuela ! Khadafi is now facing a defiant Libya which nobody would have expected some months back! And his end might come soon...
In the case of Bahrain , who would have ever thought that Bahrainis led mostly by the Shiite majority would get disenchanted with their ruling monarch and call for an end to the authoritarian government of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa , from the Sunni!
In Morocco , people are holding protest marches calling for more democracy and sit-in demonstrations are held in front of Parliament nightly! Already protesters have called for the resignation of government and dissolution of Parliament but have not yet criticised the relatively still popular King Mohammed VI.
The fever is slowly rising in the Arab world and already the rest of the World are taking a close but nervous watch!. Considering the progressing turbulence in the Mid-East and North Africa , could we not help but ask ourselves if their is a bigger power orchestrating the chaos and unquiet?
Here in the Philippines , oil and diesel prices have gone up tonight! While we may be far from the Arab world , the scarcity of oil supply ( whether real or perceived ) due to increasing tensions in the Middle East and North Africa will adversely affect the lives of a majority of Filipinos! In fact , the DOE has started to consider setting in place some contingency plans in anticipation of an oil crisis!
So what happens next ? Rising transportation and utility costs? Increased food and raw materials prices ? Runaway inflation ? Demand for additional pay by workers? Higher costs of credit ? Bankruptcies? Mass lay-offs? Or am I just getting too pessimistic? Maybe just paranoid?
Meanwhile, the turmoil in the Arab World goes on and on... more trouble ahead?
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