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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Slowly but surely
By Ibrahim Nafie
The slogans of democracy have long been associated with humanity's search for freedom, equality and justice. Yet political, economic and social conditions can easily render the guileless pursuit of such slogans impractical, romantic, idealist or, more dangerously, demagogic.
However appealing the slogans that gather around ideas of political or constitutional reform, they can be counter-productive when they fail to take account of grassroots realities, and positively dangerous when they are espoused by those who seek to hijack the rights of an entire population in order to further the aims of a handful of political and party activists. This is a fact we must bear in mind on the threshold of President Mubarak's new term of office.
Democracy cannot advance through the proliferation of slogans: it is the result of an earnest, and thoroughly responsible, process. Nor can the exercise of democratic practices in political society in general be viewed separately from the exercise of such practices within the constituent institutional structures of this society, most importantly the political parties.
Egypt began its transition from a monolithic one-party state to political plurality in the mid-70s. By 1981, however, the process had begun to disintegrate. It was at this perilous point that President Mubarak came to power, rescuing the moves towards political plurality and giving democratic practice the greatest push it had seen in Egypt since the '50s.
This is a view shared by the majority of party leaders and independents, many of whom, following Mubarak's ascension to the presidency in the wake of Sadat's assassination, were invited to his office and encouraged to resume the political activities suspended by his predecessor.
Subsequently, though, some of these same politicians appear to have forgotten such recent history, choosing instead to use the desire for political reform as a vehicle for their own partisan ambitions. In doing so, they have managed to alienate great swathes of the population, sowing the seeds of frustration. In what amounts to a wave of silent protest, the majority of citizens have turned their backs on the opposition parties, while the ruling National Democratic Party has lacked dynamism to counter the growing apathy.
Yet contrary to the assertions of the opposition parties in particular, the failure of political parties to glean support cannot be attributed to restrictions on their activities. Between the elections of 1987 and 1995, no new legislation was enacted to restrict party activity, while the national dialogue invoked by President Mubarak in 1994 brought about the repeal of several outdated laws.
So ingrained are the reductionist tendencies of opposition leaders that their rhetoric has hardly budged in two decades, something those concerned with the health of our political life should consider if they are to assess objectively the performance of the political parties and the extent to which they have contributed to democratic development.
Extending and deepening the roots of democracy requires concerted effort by government, political parties and society. There is, too, a direct link between democratic reform and improvements in socio-economic conditions. Egypt has already taken enormous strides toward raising standards of living and the successes of our ambitious economic reform programme have been widely applauded. Future phases of the programme will have an even more tangible impact on our standards of living, furnishing ever greater impetus for democratic reforms.
I believe that President Mubarak's fourth term in office will see further important steps toward enhancing democratic practice in Egypt, steps that will be paralleled by economic reforms designed to enhance living standards. This gradual approach to enhancing democracy will ensure that any constitutional developments are the product of an accumulation of experience.
The major drawback of the 1971 Constitution, after all, has nothing to do with democracy but rather with the economic provisions in Chapter II, Section II. The Constitution was drafted under the socialist system, yet to amend it now would precipitate such widespread controversy as to prevent the emergence of the necessary consensus for effective constitutional reform. Constitutional reform, if it is to be done properly, is an inherently complex and time-consuming process. Imagine, then, the consequences of engaging in such a process with an opposition which, however unanimous it might be in its rejection of the current constitution, is riddled with divisions over all prospective changes.
In all events, given that there is nothing in the present constitution to impede democratic development, such a move is unnecessary. Better by far to progress steadily, making use of the Constitution's full gamut of guarantees for equality, security, freedom of belief and opinion, freedom of the press and creativity and the right to form associations, unions and syndicates -- guarantees backed by penalties against those who infringe them.
On the other hand, not all articles of legislation fully conform with the Constitution. For example, Article 48 of the Constitution stipulates: "The freedoms of the press, printing and publication and the media are guaranteed in accordance with the law." In spite of this constitutional guarantee, the press and publications law contains certain shortcomings pertaining to the freedom to publish and the penalties imposed for infringements. A better course of action, perhaps, rather than ranting on about changing the Constitution itself, would be to focus attention on eradicating the flaws in existing laws, thereby expanding the freedom of the press. This consideration applies equally to other laws, such as the law governing the exercise of political rights, the political parties law and the law governing the activities of syndicates.
I anticipate that in President Mubarak's fourth term of office the exercise of democracy will gradually expand through the revision of such laws. This process, in conjunction with economic reform, is certain to lead the nation to the fullest possible realisation of democracy, an article of faith with President Mubarak as it is with many other Egyptians.
