Hawzah News Agency (Istanbul - Turkey) - Scholars urge Muslim nations to evolve an inclusive system of decision-making process at all levels.

Lack of transparency, frail democratic systems and frequent military interventions in the governance systems, are some of the issues plaguing most of the countries in the Muslim world, said scholars, who had converged in Turkish metropolis of Istanbul.

Organized by the Centre for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), some 20 scholars who debated civil-military relations across the globe, stressed upon the need to understand the essence of political systems and local realities in the Middle East and the North Africa.

“Militaries are at the center of the decision making,” said Rachid Tlemcani, professor at the University of Algiers in Algeria.

He said militaries in the region have a strong relationship with external players, in terms of buying arms and then to seek support to fight people, when they hit streets.

“It is now time to develop a new approach. We cannot understand situation in our societies with [western] traditional approaches and concepts of political science. The new theory should reflect the complexity of the local realities,” he emphasized.

He stressed that governments in Muslim countries need to evolve a system to take everybody on board in the decision-making process, rather than vesting powers in a single entity or a small group. He recommended to introduce democracy and decision-making process at the levels of village and towns, to organize people to take decisions on their day to day issues.