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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Living Features Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Keeping promises
By Ibrahim Nafie
In a few days, the speaker of the People's Assembly, at the head of a delegation of its members, will meet with President Mubarak to inform him of the Assembly's decision to select him for another term in office. The Assembly and several other bodies -- associations and trade unions, among others -- have united to renew their vote of confidence in the president, and in his capacity to lead the nation into the 21st century. This will be the fourth such meeting.
At the first, Egypt was still in shock over the assassination of President Sadat. Fear of the unknown prevailed, and the people found in Mubarak a man for the historic moment. He did not hesitate before assuming the vast responsibility of leading Egypt through those difficult times. Since then, he has been constant in his promise to guide the country to peace and prosperity.
The relationship that has bound Mubarak to the people since the first instant is truly astonishing. It has been a mixture of affection, trust, honesty and a shared faith in a better tomorrow. Every time an issue or a problem has arisen, Mubarak has asked for the people's guidance and assistance. He never claims to hold the magic key to any problem. He never speaks in condescending or purposely esoteric terms. Only through hard work, perseverance and faith in God can one achieve one's goals. Nor does Mubarak use empty slogans in addressing his nation. The people know what the president knows; we know the true nature of the challenge we face, and are able to cooperate in formulating a comprehensive programme for change.
This mutual trust has been the secret behind our ability to overcome obstacles in past years. Together, we have emerged victorious from the battle for peace: Sinai has returned to the national fold. Thanks to Mubarak's patience, and his willingness to turn to citizens with expertise and clear vision, we retrieved Taba, thus completing the liberation of the peninsula. His greatest accomplishment in this respect, however, has been his ability to make peace Egypt's strategic choice, and to lead the region out of long years of fear and enmity.
In the struggle for economic reform, Mubarak chose honesty and transparency once again; and again, he was able to unite the people, the government and the opposition in the quest for a common goal. Gradually, the negative picture associated with the early days of economic liberalisation dissolved; the tradition which ascribed every responsibility and every initiative to the state, refusing to recognise the role of individual entrepreneurship, has all but disappeared. Today, it is the people who request the speeding up of the privatisation programme, which has been carried through with caution and patience.
Mubarak has also changed the very face of Egypt. The national projects implemented under his guidance have been courageous surgical interventions, carried out in an often hostile environment. For the most part, they were unprecedented endeavours. For the first time, indeed, water from the Nile has reached Sinai through giant pipelines. For the first time, a metro line runs under the river. There are many other examples of such "first times": I could cite the unexplained fact that, for the first time since the creation of Lake Nasser, the water level rose so high that it filled the Toshka depression. Toshka itself, of course, is perhaps the most outstanding example of the national projects implemented in Mubarak's time. And throughout, civil society, from housewives to technicians to intellectuals, has been in a state of effervescence, participating in a wide-ranging democratic debate.
The future, it seems, is even brighter -- as long as we keep in mind the challenges we will have to face. The first is the need to close the wide gap between exports and imports. This is a battle that concerns the working population as a whole, and we must fight it by reducing our imports and manufacturing products that can compete with their foreign-made counterparts, on both the domestic and the international markets.
The second challenge is related to the need to complete the national infrastructure, and extend it throughout Egypt, so that all may benefit from water, electricity, natural gas, communications and transport. In the context of the communications revolution in which the president has placed such great faith, our ability to address this challenge effectively will allow us to remove many bureaucratic obstacles, and thus to encourage investment. It will therefore lead to a veritable revolution in education, training, health and the exploitation of human resources.
The third challenge involves the issue of technology and scientific research. We must participate in this revolution as producers, not consumers: we have no choice. Adopting appropriate technology, and putting it to good use, will allow us to overcome present deficiencies in the volume of exports, but will also permit great advances in the implementation of national projects while rationalising the administrative apparatus. Most important in this respect is the adoption of a clear strategy for scientific research and technological development. If we are able to meet this challenge, we will do far more than cover the cost of our initial investment.
Finally, we will face a challenge in the rapid changes that have taken place in every field of life in Egypt. These have affected social relations on the street, in homes and in the workplace. In some ways, these changes have been beneficial; in others, less so. In both cases, they require careful study, for all our investments in education, health, and development depend first and foremost on a hospitable social climate. From the first, however, Egypt's reform programme has focused on the human dimension, and has taken into account limited-income groups and those most vulnerable to the adverse effects of liberalisation.
At any rate, Mubarak's leadership record should inspire hope for the future, even with the difficult challenges that lie ahead of us all.
