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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 Planning ahead
By Salama Ahmed Salama
In a few months, Egypt will be holding general elections to the People's Assembly, the first of the millennium. Many hope that the elections will reflect the political will of the people, who are determined to address the challenges of the future and to break the shackles of underdevelopment. The elections will be fruitful only if they serve as a tool to bring about real change, to revive hope and to pump new blood into the body politic. Only if the opportunists in government who have taken advantage of their position for too long are replaced by a parliament representing the whole political spectrum will the average Egyptian's confidence in the political system be restored, and the people's representatives become agents of development and freedom rather than sources of rampant corruption and political recklessness.
No wonder President Mubarak has asked all Egyptians to observe the elections carefully, that they may be truly free and fair. We have only to look at Iran, Indonesia and several African countries to realise the remarkable standards of democracy attained. These countries have succeeded in surmounting the obstacles that made of their peoples the prisoners of repressive regimes, under the tutelage of a single political party, class or ruler. It is no longer possible to argue that economic reform must take precedence over democratisation, to claim that there are no political parties capable of competing at the polls, or to exaggerate domestic problems or terrorist threats as a pretext for avoiding political change. Other countries have proved that such arguments are invalid.
For all these reasons, the elections in Iran have been admired -- and rightly so -- by the entire world. Iran has succeeded in bringing about democracy and pluralism. Voters went to the polls freely, ballot boxes were not stuffed, and no group was prevented from exercising its political rights. Candidates of all convictions ran: religious hard-liners and reformers, independents and even women. The new government is proof of the fairness of these elections
A radical change has taken place smoothly in Iranian society, and the gap between revolutionary legitimacy and political legitimacy has been bridged. Iran today seems far more advanced than many Arab and Islamic countries. We must pay far more attention to our own upcoming parliamentary elections. The political elite -- members of the ruling party or of the opposition, intellectuals and political thinkers -- must work for the amendment of the electoral law. The amendments must increase freedom for all political parties and movements, and guarantee the election process by placing it in the hands of a fully competent judiciary. Reform-minded activists must do all they can -- even if this means creating a supreme independent body outside the Ministry of Interior, and drawing up new electoral lists based on fair, objective standards.
Despite the implications the forthcoming elections have for the quality of political life in Egypt and the region, there are no signs that any positive preparations are underway. The renewal of the Emergency Law, clearly, does not augur well for the environment in which the elections will take place. Apart from a few scattered meetings, no serious, systematic efforts at organisation have been made. Meanwhile, the ruling party seems to be comfortably determined to keep its place and ignore the need for future plans. Nations are no longer ruled by centralised governments; the rule now is an effective political system that draw its meaning and legitimacy from the people. Those who have learned this lesson have only their experience to offer, as a model for the rest of the world.
