All talk in Egypt these days revolves around the legislative elections set to take place near the end of this month. In fact, the parties and candidates contending in these elections are as numerous as the people of Egypt, and the details about them are numerous enough to make even a super computer confused. According to Al-Ahram, 50 political parties are contending in the elections, but I say they are perhaps more like 500 parties. Compare this to two parties in the United States, and two and a half parties in Britain. They are as follows: - The Democratic Coalition led by the Freedom and Justice Party, i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood, bringing together ten parties including the parties of Al-Ghad Al-Jadid and Al-Karama (which seems not to be satisfied with the order of its candidates in the Coalition). - The Egyptian Bloc, bringing together the Free Egyptians Party, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, and al-Tagamu'. - The Revolution Bloc, a coalition of the revolution's youths and leftist factions - The Wafd Party, of course, and inevitably, we read that there are splits in the party - The Sufi Hizb ut-Tahrir, which has no allies, and which is mostly concerned with rivaling the lists of the An-Nour Party's Islamist coalition. The reader can also choose from the Front for Liberation, Development and Defense of the Revolution's Achievements, the Tahrir Revolutionaries' Party, the Youths for Change Party, the Free Egypt Party, the Guardians of Egypt Party, the Democratic Youth Party and As-Sahwa Party. The parties range from the Islamist, Leftist, and Liberal, to the Coptic and the Feminist. I admit that I was lost among them all, so much so that the notes I was recording day after day about the developments of the election campaign have become so many that I do not know what to pick from them anymore. Since I am Egyptian by passion not by nationality – meaning therefore that I cannot vote-, I find that my main concern in Egypt is not the elections, but rather security. The Egyptian economy had suffered a big setback following the revolution hurricane, in conjunction with a lax security situation that I thought would be temporary, but which seems now to be ongoing and to have even worsened. No state deserves its name without imposing security. I read about violent incidents in all provinces, especially Damietta and Aswan. Also, there were attacks on police stations in the northern Sinai, while the port of Damietta was closed, power was deliberately cut in the city, and hostages were exchanged among tribes with several killed or injured. How can the revolution be of assistance for the people if the people are not safe in their lives, those of their families, and their livelihoods and future? In my opinion, governments must command haybah, an ingenious Arab word that means both fear and respect. Fear and respect for the government is more important than the love of the people, which comes second. Here, there is a Machiavellian popular saying that I do not necessarily approve, which holds that injustice is less detrimental than lax governance. However, I am not inciting injustice or even heavy-handedness here. Rather, I find reason for optimism in the parties' agreement to reject El-Selmi's paper on the army and the Constituent Assembly (meaning the Deputy Prime Minister for Democratic Transition Ali El-Slemi). Although it included many positive items, Articles 9 and 10 raised justified concerns. This is because the new parties in the newfound atmosphere of freedom do not want the army to become a guardian of democracy, playing a role similar to that of the Turkish army in Atatürk's republic. The amendment of the document in the end, with the approval of the Muslim Brotherhood, is a good sign that the various political factions indeed want and are seeking accord. Personally, I find that the democratic credentials of many parties are incomplete or even fake. A good example of this is the exclusion of the so-called “remnants of the National Party”. Those who have made democracy a part of their parties' names want to prohibit the members of the dissolved National Party from running in the elections. I thought that such a decision belonged to the whole people, who would then decide to vote for or against them as part of true democratic exercise. The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court to support the legality of the nomination of former members of the National Party was just and wise, therefore, and it has settled the matter. I remain optimistic. After the shock of El-Selmi's Document, the political parties returned to the Al-Azhar Document on the democratic civil state in Egypt, which is sufficient to dispel any fears, real or fictitious, regarding the Islamists' takeover of power in Egypt. I believe that the appointment of the Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb as the Imam of Al-Azhar in March last year, was the best decision by the Mubarak regime in its last years. For one thing, Dr. Al-Tayeb combines encyclopedic knowledge and moderation, which is one of the fundamentals of religion or religiosity. Recently, I read that he issued a warning against the proliferation of an extremist and outspoken Islamist ideology that only sees the superficial elements of religion, in conjunction with a Western ideology that is alien to Egyptian identity and character, which has always encouraged diversity, pluralism and multiculturalism. These are wise words worth following. Tomorrow, I shall continue with the topic of Egypt and the Egyptian elections through Western eyes. [email protected]
