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Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 March 2000 Issue No. 471 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 2 - 8 March 2000 Issue No. 471
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Interview Features Focus Heritage Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A 'wish list' for Mubarak
By Dina EzzatWhat kind of political reform is needed for Egypt? How can this reform be achieved? And how will it deal with Egypt's political Islamic movement? And is socio-economic reform alone not enough?
These are some of the questions that are being increasingly raised in political and intellectual circles. The answers may vary, but the consensus is that political reform is needed.
At a recent seminar in the American University in Cairo (AUC), prominent diplomat Mustafa El-Fiqi and sociologist Saadeddin Ibrahim talked about what they expect of President Mubarak in the coming few years. Dina Ezzat attended.
"Egypt is a central country with so many different dimensions in a hot region," said El-Fiqi, and it is with this in mind that the president will have to embark on the coming phase of his ambitious plan for political, economic and social reform.
El-Fiqi sounded more sympathetic than Ibrahim to the mode of "slow change" that has been employed to introduce reform to date. "Some people may say they are tired of this slow change", but it is a good method to ensure the sustainability of change, he argued.
On the content of political reform, both El-Fiqi and Ibrahim seemed to agree. The two intellectuals prescribed further democratisation, although conceding the fact that Mubarak's era was marked by the highest level of democracy since the establishment of the republic in 1952.
Freedom of speech and expression, more power-sharing with the different political forces and the younger generations, and a greater representation of women may top a "wish list" for President Mubarak. They both seemed to think that this list could materialise, or at least start to materialise, around the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for November, since this is a moment of par excellence for political change.
A more accommodating approach to what El-Fiqi termed "the Islamic trend", and Ibrahim called "the Islamic militants", was also on the joint "wish list". The rationale is that this is probably the safest and less costly way to "de-heat" the local political scene and make sure that the gains of economic reform are not to be lost suddenly due to any unexpected political upheaval.
The emergency law, said Ibrahim, has been enforced for the past 18 years "partially because of the rise of the Islamic tide". For Ibrahim this should not be the way ahead since emergency laws cannot really be described as part and parcel of democratisation. The answer, he suggested, is to allow the Islamists to play politics but to make them do so by the rules accepted by the entire society in the form of a bill of rights.
Ibrahim argued that his proposed bill of rights should give the right for "a Muslim Brotherhood party to exist only if this party recognises full equality for women and non-Muslims". He added, "If they accept the rules of the game, then let them compete like everybody else and they can become like the social democrats in Europe."
This may sound feasible in theory, but is it so in practice? It may not be so, El-Fiqi seemed to say. "The problem with the Islamists is that they have a one-track mind. They believe in one solution. For them it is a matter of belief that should not be discussed."
Important as it is, the question of the Islamists may not seem to be the only factor in deciding the future of democratisation in Egypt.
"On the [issue] of free elections, a lot remains to be decided," argued Ibrahim, especially if one addresses the representation of the ruling National Democratic Party in parliament that has jumped over the past 18 years from a high 67 per cent to a very high 94 per cent.
But then again, he added, "It could also be that the opposition [parties and independents] itself does not deserve [the power-sharing]."
This said, neither Ibrahim nor El-Fiqi would suggest that the opposition should be banished. "All political forces active on the street should be granted a forum to express themselves instead of [having a parliament] representing those who have no power on the street, whoever they might be," El-Fiqi said. He made this conditional on an acceptance in advance of "a certain set of conditions for Western style democracy".
The "wish list" put together by El-Fiqi and Ibrahim proceeded from the political to the socio-economic. The "good" economic reform programme that President Mubarak launched should be pursued and continued to be effected at the lowest possible social cost. Improvement is imperative in areas of education, science and technology and Egypt needs to reassert itself culturally in the region.
"When I talk about educational reform, I am talking about concept and style rather than format," said El-Fiqi, who sounded very critical of today's school curricula which he finds to be archaic.
Like Ibrahim, El-Fiqi argued that socio-economic reform cannot be a substitute for political reform, and the opposite is also true.
