Prescribing realism

During his most recent interview, President Hosni Mubarak urged a realistic approach to handling national and regional problems. Dina Ezzat reads between the lines

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President Hosni Mubarak

Mayo (May) is the mouthpiece of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). Only occasionally can this paper, which comes out every Monday, be described as having a wide circulation. Running an interview with President Hosni Mubarak, who is also chairman of the NDP, is one obvious occasion when Mayo gets attention from readers and journalists alike.

This week, on the eve of the NDP's second annual conference, a full-page interview with the President -- conducted by Mayo Editor-in- chief Samir Ragab -- appeared.

Ragab's questions to Mubarak did not seem to be designed to get an in-depth perspective on the party's present and future. There were not many questions that directly focussed on the NDP conference, or for that matter on party issues being discussed these days by the press, such as the political future of leading NDP figures like the party's secretary-general, Safwat El-Sherif, and the chairman of its policies committee, Gamal Mubarak. That the former would be retired, and the latter promoted, has been the talk of the town, as has been speculation over alleged differences between the two influential men.

Ragab also showed no interest in posing questions related to the calls for constitutional amendments that have echoed in different quarters of the opposition and within civil society, or for that matter the appeal to remove the emergency laws that have been applied for the past 23 years, since the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat in October 1981.

Instead of dwelling on these matters, Ragab seized the presidential interview opportunity to get an across-the-board review of Mubarak's perception of current national and regional issues. So along with his questions about the "New Thinking and the Priorities of Reform" slogan under which the NDP conference is being held, the Mayo editor dedicated a considerable part of his questions to developments in Palestine, Iraq and Sudan.

Mubarak, for the most part, prescribed a realistic approach to developments on the national and regional spheres. While not underestimating either the sheer weight of domestic issues like unemployment and women's political rights, or prickly regional political and military ailments, Mubarak seemed determined to stress that the best and most trusted answer to all of these problems was via wise and well- calculated responses.

President Mubarak also chose not to overly attack those who have been calling on him to refrain from running for a new term in office when presidential elections come up in October 2005. Instead, he called for an NDP-opposition dialogue. "Last year, during its conference, the NDP called for a dialogue with all legal political parties in Egypt on all consequential national issues. This the party did despite [its full awareness of] the many differences between its perception and that of the opposition on how to tackle these issues. Today, I still believe that it is important for all political parties to pursue dialogue and cooperation."

And while stressing the NDP's commitment to widen its presence on the ground and to seek a wider membership of citizens from all walks of life, the president called on all other political parties to pursue a similar strategy of public engagement. "I am renewing my call to the other parties to energise their presence among the public and to propose realistic platforms for action."

The reference to "legal political parties" was about as direct as the president seemed willing to go, in relation to the regime's continuing dismissal of the Muslim Brotherhood as an "illegal group" -- a clear sign that this popular Islamist political power bloc should not be expecting a governmental change of heart.

The call for opposition parties to adopt "realistic platforms", meanwhile, was as direct as the president seemed willing to go in criticising the proposals made by these parties regarding political reform.

Answering a question on the younger generation's role -- often, a euphemism for Gamal Mubarak's role -- now and in the future, the president said that, "we have always believed it necessary to establish a link of communication among the different generations in the areas of public service. This is why we have been promoting promising and ambitious young people to take up some important posts in the party and the government. I think we have been successful."

It was in his answer to the question related to women's political participation that Mubarak seemed to be giving an indication to potential, albeit undeclared and non-committal plans, to improve the status of women's political participation. "Women still need an extra push to assume more political participation. This, however, will require a change in the social perception of women's roles -- especially in the rural areas." Women, Mubarak added, "still suffer some legislative and procedural [inconveniences] in relation to social status issues, and this is another area where additional efforts are required."

On other domestic issues, Mubarak reiterated his commitment to economic, social and political reform -- in no particular order -- on the basis of maintaining social justice and wider public participation. Above all, Mubarak stressed that reform, of any type, would be applied at the proper dose that society would accommodate.

The president also reiterated the necessity of a partnership between the government and civil society to properly and, for that matter promptly, address national concerns and priorities.

The foreign policy parameters offered by Mubarak in his interview with Ragab seemed to carry no signs of potential changes in Cairo's stance on three key regional issues: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Iraq and Sudan.

On the Palestinian-Israeli front, the president was willing to offer his even-handed reading of the situation. "What is required is for both Palestinians and Israelis to implement their commitments in accordance with the roadmap."

And in an indirect rejection of what appear to be Washington's second thoughts on establishing an independent Palestinian state by 2005, Mubarak suggested that the honest and reciprocal implementation of the roadmap's requirements should lead the way "towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state by the end of 2005."

Addressing the situation in Iraq, Mubarak seemed very careful not to gloat over the current state of chaos that he so earnestly and emphatically warned of prior to the US invasion. Instead, he applied his characteristic realism: "The only way out of the current situation [in Iraq] is to enable the interim government to honour its commitments and to conduct elections by the beginning of 2005 to allow for the election of a new Iraqi government."

Equal levels of realism were exhibited by the president when stressing the need for negotiated settlements for Sudan's political problems, especially in Darfur. "The situation in Darfur is very complicated and requires means beyond those available to the Sudanese government," Mubarak said.

This statement might have been Mubarak's subtle way of criticising a recent UN Security Council resolution that threatened Sudan with economic sanctions over its handling of the human crisis in Darfur. But since there was no direct question posed on this particular resolution by the Mayo editor, Mubarak's remarks could simply be read as a statement of fact.

In all cases, President Mubarak stressed Egypt's willingness to support regional and international efforts exerted by the UN, the Quartet, the Arab League and the African Union to end tension in Palestine, Iraq and Sudan.

No remarks were made by the president regarding the serious and swift developments in Syria and Lebanon that have been consuming so much of his recent attention; the situation there has prompted frequent phone calls between Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, and even a sudden trip to Damascus -- the only overseas visit that the president has made since his back surgery last June.