The veteran Nasserite politician Hamdeen Sabahi, 58, who was twice elected to parliament by his party Karama, or Dignity, is one of 13 candidates for the presidency of Egypt. Egypt will be holding its first post-Mubarak presidential poll on May 23-24. From humble beginnings, Sabahi has always had the support of a small, but loyal group of voters because of his honesty and accessibility. In a recent poll of 1200 voters done by the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, 9.3 percent of the respondents indicated that they would vote for him. Former foreign minister Amr Moussa was in first place with 40.9 percent, followed by the Islamist candidate Abdul-Moneim Aboul Fotouh with 25.2 percent and former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq with 10.5 percent. In an interview with Saudi Gazette at his election campaign headquarters, Sabahi talked about his relations with the Islamists; why he would not break the peace agreement with Israel, and the delicate issue of how to deal with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, which has held power since the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak last year. SAUDI GAZETTE: In your mind what is the most important thing now for Egypt? What is the best thing you can give to Egyptians as a candidate? HAMDEEN SABAHI: I think the best thing for Egypt now is a president that completes the January 25 Revolution. Because there are two types of presidential candidates now: Those who want to abort the revolution and those who want to continue or complete the revolution. SG: Don't you think that SCAF, and other people who do not want to see the revolution succeed, are already pushing the revolution back? HS: It is not the right time yet to judge whether the revolution has succeeded or been pushed back, as it all depends on the upcoming presidential elections. If the new president is chosen from Tahrir Square that will mean that the revolution has succeeded. SG: What is your relationship with SCAF? Do you think they really want this revolution to succeed? HS: It does not matter what SCAF thinks. What counts is what the people think. Because this is a revolution of the people, not of the Military Council. And it is the people who will elect the new president, not SCAF. SG: What do you think of the Islamist parties, who won so many seats in parliament? Do you think this is a real reflection of what people want, or were they just elected because they were totally different from the Mubarak regime and people wanted change? HS: The political will for change is very important. The Islamists were repressed during the Mubarak regime, and that gave them the ability to organize and reach the grassroots through social services, and this has played a big role in their popularity. But after they got the majority of the seats in parliament, the majority of the people who elected them have been depressed with their performance in parliament. Therefore, at this stage whoever is not performing well politically is losing credibility among the voters. SG: But they (the Islamists) have only been in parliament for a few months. Isn't it too early to judge them? HS: Of course it is too early. But it is the impression that they are giving voters. Because after a revolution, there are expectations. There is an overdose of expectations, which is the main cause of this depression, especially after two bad decisions. First, how they formed the constituent assembly. Second, when they (the Muslim Brotherhood) put forward a candidate for president. They lied to the people, because they initially said they would not have a candidate for the presidency. So of course, the voters felt offended at the way they (the Islamists) were dominating the constituent assembly, and also for putting forward a presidential candidate. SG: Was any member of your political party included in the constituent assembly? HS: Yes, I think one was. We have seven seats in the current parliament. But our member pulled out of the assembly when our party declared that we wouldn't take part in the process. Now we are trying, along with other secular and leftist parties, to form a shadow constituent assembly. Now that the administrative court has suspended the creation of the constituent assembly, in the coming weeks they will form a new one. SG: Where are you in the opinion polls of voters? HS: The most recent polls are not reliable because most of them have been conducted online, and have been targeted to mostly higher middle class people, especially youth who have a certain type of education, and are not representative of the majority of Egyptians, who might not have access to the Internet. They are not reliable, so I don't really believe in them, as they are not a representative sample of the population. SG: In terms of economic plans, what would you do if you were elected? Would you nationalize companies? HS: I would follow the example of Turkey and Brazil and have a mixed economy of public and privately owned companies. It would be a free market but with a great emphasis on the social needs of poor farmers and laborers, and in achieving social justice. A team of economists from Cairo University is creating my economic plan. SG: What would you do to attack illiteracy? HS: I believe that having 40 percent of Egyptians who cannot read or write is too much, and we need a radical plan to attack this. One plan that we are looking at would be a national service program that would take university students out of their studies for a year to teach reading and writing to the illiterate. SG: What about the peace treaty with Israel? Would you do anything to change it? HS: I believe that Israel does not want peace, but regardless of my opinion I would not change anything in the treaty, as it is not something for the president to decide, it's a decision for society. And even if Israel wants to go to war with Egypt, I would avoid it. But at the same time I would not give Israel any incentives. I would stop the natural gas exports to Israel [this interview was given before Egypt stopped gas exports to Israel on April 22] and I would not impose a siege on Gaza. And I would support the Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation according to all international laws. And I would open the borders with Gaza. SG: How would you deal with corruption? HS: I will raise the salaries of government workers, and sack the corrupt officials left over from previous regimes. I will replace them with the new blood of a younger and cleaner generation. SG: How are your relations with the Islamist parties? HS: I agree and disagree with the Muslim Brotherhood on many issues, but I believe that the points in my social justice platform are beyond their dreams, so they wouldn't dare disagree with my projects. In the end the people will judge us, and the people will be on my side because they took to streets for social justice. SG: How would your relations be with SCAF if you are elected? HS: I really respect the military institutions, and one of my main objectives is to have a strong, well-equipped military to protect Egypt from any foreign menace. On the other hand, I understand that SCAF has made the transitional period longer, but I don't understand why security forces are still killing people. I believe there is no safe exit for the military leaders at this point in time. As a president, I would support fair trials of those generals who are responsible for these crimes. There is no excuse for the military blinding young protesters by shooting them, or for them harassing women protesters. There is no immunity from being tried for this. SG: But what has happened to the military personnel who have committed these crimes? No one has been put on trial yet. They have gotten away with it so far, right? HS: I think that at present it would be very hard for any of them to have a fair trial. But I believe that the new president will open this file again. SG: What do you plan to do if you are not elected? HS: I will continue my mission as a senior citizen. (Laughs) I was elected twice to parliament and that is enough. __
