28 Dec. 2000 - 3 Jan. 2001
Issue No.514
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 28 Dec. 2000 - 3 Jan. 2001 Issue No.514 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Democracy and its discontents
One of the primary characteristics of President Mubarak's rule until this year was the priority given to economic over political reform. The past year, in which the problems of the liquidity shortage and recession occurred, proved the exception. In June 2000, the Supreme Constitutional Court forbade the appointment of heads to the auxiliary polling station committees on parliamentary elections from outside the judiciary. Since then, the president has acted rapidly and energetically to bring the ruling into effect, as a result of which legislative reform this year ensured full judicial supervision over the legislative elections for the first time in Egyptian history.
These legislative amendments and the elections that were subsequently held in accordance with the new provisions constituted the single most important political development of 2000 in Egypt. In terms of the factors that generated them, the way they manifested themselves and their results, both amendments and elections epitomise the current political situation and intertwine with many fundamental issues facing Egyptian society.
Looking back over the events leading up to this landmark change, one is immediately struck by the extraordinary role played by the judiciary. In view of the weakness of the opposition parties, and the government's reluctance to take the initiative in changing the political system, it has been gratifyingly astounding to watch as the judiciary increasingly asserted itself in this domain, affecting the formation of political parties, bringing about the dissolution of parliament on more than one occasion and, more recently, ruling on the unconstitutionality of the NGO Law on the grounds that it had not been brought before the Shura Council. While vitality of the judiciary, and the respect with which its rulings were received, especially on the president's part, have been crucial to the process of democratisation, however, this phenomenon is no substitute for vital and dynamic political parties, executive agencies and institutions of civil society.
President Mubarak's personal dedication to democratisation, no matter how cautious and gradual his approach, also explains why it was possible to bring the SCC's ruling into effect so quickly. Despite the reservations expressed by other political leaders and the objection that full judicial supervision of the polls was unfeasible, the president resolved the issue, making it possible to hold parliamentary elections in three stages, thereby solving the problem of insufficient judiciary members.
Perhaps, too, we should note that economic difficulties are another factor directly or indirectly contributing to further democratisation. These problems, the most serious manifestation of which is unemployment, affect the lives of millions of citizens and should galvanise all political forces to assume their share of the burden. More importantly, the drive towards economic deregulation, a market economy and more assertive individual initiative can only bear fruit in a climate of optimal transparency, the rule of law and the conscientious implementation of anti-graft measures, which can only be realised through greater democratisation.
Nonetheless, all these factors could not have brought about the rapid legal amendments to our electoral law had the National Democratic Party not been confident that it would secure its customary parliamentary majority in elections held under full judicial supervision. This confidence, which was entirely unfounded, inspired the NDP to take up the gauntlet, while the president, for his part, viewed the challenge as a test of the party's strength. Although the young cadres brought on board in the NDP secretariat have made possible some internal restructuring that has affected the selection process to party leadership positions and parliamentary candidacies, traditional criteria seem to have prevailed in the nominations of most of the party's candidates this year, and most of those candidates failed to secure parliamentary office. Meanwhile, those NDP members who were not nominated by the party entered the race as independents; as a bloc -- in comparison to which the influence of the opposition parties was virtually insignificant -- they swept the elections, defeating the NDP.
The elections reflect a number of persistent ills in our political system. The most obvious, as the results demonstrated, is the glaring weakness of our political parties in general, and the opposition parties in particular. This phenomenon in itself is nothing new; the surprise is that it exceeded all expectations. The weakness of political parties is the direct result of the rigidity that has afflicted them all, without exception, and which in turn is intrinsically associated with the general stagnation in political life. Under these circumstances, traditional leaderships have monopolised the political parties, and if mortality solved the problem of generating new blood in the Wafd the leaderships of the Nasserist and Tagammu parties remain unchanged. The same applies to unofficial forces, notably the Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidates nevertheless proved strong contenders in the electoral race. More serious yet is that all these political forces have proved incapable of adapting to the new social, economic and cultural circumstances in Egypt, cutting themselves off even further from the voters. It should be added here that other forces in civil society, such as the syndicates and NGOs, are in no healthier a state in terms of dynamism and efficacy.
That the elections took place at a time of economic recession placed the NDP candidates in an unenviable position. While the ruling party leaders and candidates found themselves compelled to make extravagant promises and render services to their constituencies in order to win votes, economic difficulties afforded an excellent opportunity not only for the opposition party candidates but also for the independents (even if they were originally NDP members) to criticise NDP policies and to exploit the general popular frustration with this party.
In retrospect, we can also say that the short time that elapsed between the SCC's ruling on full judicial supervision and the actual elections had an impact perhaps more negative than positive. Certainly the time was insufficient to permit the parties and the candidates to prepare themselves adequately for the challenge of truly free and fair elections. As a result, traditional campaigning criteria (such as money and family connections) retained the upper hand over professional, ideological and ethical considerations, perhaps because of a lack of confidence that it would be feasible to ensure the minimum degree of integrity of the polls.
Despite the preceding observations, the People's Assembly elections were not only the most important event of the year but also marked the beginning of major political developments, although it is still premature to predict their magnitude and the direction they will take. While the implementation of full judicial supervision was a positive step towards greater democracy in our political system, the particular circumstances surrounding the elections give rise to legitimate apprehensions, at least in the short term. That ideological politics were glaringly absent in the campaign, allowing traditional affiliations and material considerations to prevail, does not bode well. Indeed, it is perhaps for this reason above all that "independents" -- a loose and haphazard grouping -- have come to form the majority in the house, that there are more than a hundred businessmen in office, and that many of the elected representatives of the various political forces are not the most qualified persons for the responsibilities vested in them.
Nevertheless, these reservations are offset by many positive aspects, the foremost being that for the first time since 1952 Egyptian voters felt that their ballots could make a difference. Unprecedented numbers of voters made their way to the polling stations, determined to exercise their constitutional right. Also encouraging was that these elections gave a powerful impetus to the participation of Copts. This was the first time that three Christian candidates secured parliamentary seats through the ballot box rather than by appointment. Some of the most prominent intellectual and cultural figures in Egypt rallied their forces behind the Christian candidate running in one of Cairo's constituencies in a significant manifestation of true national unity against his rivals' allegations of religious fanaticism. Finally, advocates of women's rights were able to take considerable heart in the elections, which brought seven women into parliament.
In the balance, therefore, the long-term prospects of greater integrity and broader participation in our democratic process override more immediate fears, which means that the true results of elections 2000 will make themselves felt not only in future legislative elections, but also in all governing assemblies selected through the balloting process. The implication of this is clear. Democracy is not merely free and fair elections; it is an enlightened political culture that requires a high degree of participation, strong political parties with the dynamism to secure grassroots support, and a vigilant civil society. These are the areas in which we hope to see renewed vigour after years of stagnation.
The writer is the Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly Al-Siyassa El-Dawliya (International Politics) and a member of the Shura Council.
photos: Mohamed Abdel-Fattah, Mustafa El-Senousi,Ahmed Abdel-Razeq, Kamal El-Garnousi, Adel Anis JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE: The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) promised sweeping reform and began by freshening up its ranks with younger blood, including Gamal Mubarak (top left; pictured third from right); legislative reform brought the country's first general elections fully supervised by the judiciary (top right); the scandal over the Ministry of Culture's republishing of A Banquet for Seaweed resulted in the suspension of the Labour Party mouthpiece Al-Shaab, a further blow to imprisoned Editor-in-Chief Magdi Hussein (second from top right; pictured right); New Year's Eve marks the one-year anniversary of the sectarian violence that broke out in the Upper Egyptian village of Al-Kosheh (second right); Egyptians, spearheaded by university students, poured their hearts out in solidarity with the Al-Aqsa Intifada (above); the country's new constitutional court, inspired by Pharaonic architecture (bottom right); Egyptian NGOs were unnerved by the charges brought against AUC professor and human rights activist Saadeddin Ibrahim (left)
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
