Evil smile

By Salama A Salama

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An American journalist asked me -- with an evil smile -- whether political reform in Egypt has made significant progress since the US abandoned its quest to democratise the region. I didn't answer immediately. The journalist went on to mention clashes between police and dozens of people protesting constitutional amendments in Tahrir Square, as well as the subsequent arrest of some demonstrators. US pressure for democracy, he said, reduced for a while the scale of repression and the excessive use of police force. This pressure, he pointed out, helped create a climate of political vitality that many noticed appear and that hasn't totally vanished yet.

My answer was that although the current security clampdown is alarming, US schemes to bring democracy to the Arab world weren't exactly helpful. The reason is that the US wasn't sincere about freedom and democracy. It merely wanted to shake up Arab regimes and with the aim of reshaping the Middle East. The US assumed that a successful invasion of Iraq would give rise to a semi-democratic regime, similar to the ones in Latin America. But ensuing chaos in Iraq has thrown off all US calculations. Things got worse when Hamas, a group the US lists as terrorist, won in democratic elections in Palestine. And when the Muslim Brotherhood became the main opposition group in the Egyptian parliament and Hizbullah captured the imagination of the Arab public by standing up to Israel in South Lebanon, the US had second thoughts.

We cannot blame the US for everything that happens to us. The US had a certain view of democracy, one the neocons conceived with certain goals in mind and abandoned when things didn't quite work out. The fact is that democracy is not a commodity that can be imported and exported. It is a seed that needs the right type of soil. Egyptian soil has been contaminated by stagnation and corruption. Our ruling elite has succeeded in spreading an atmosphere of fear and repression, in stifling any desire for political participation, and in undermining the foundation of collective responsibility. The whole constitutional amendments parade was a farce. It is conducted by some who claim that they care about reform and don't need foreign pressure to entice them towards democracy.

We cannot blame the National Democratic Party alone. The opposition groups, parties, as well as independent parliamentarians, lost their focus at a crucial moment. Opposition groups hesitated, not knowing whether to take part in the vote on constitutional amendments or boycott the discussions or resign. Perhaps the opposition should have resigned from parliament collectively. Perhaps that would have restored public confidence. But the opposition was too divided to make up its mind.

Constitutional reforms should have been a stimulus for public participation and a boost for pluralism. But the security escalation that we see now doesn't bode well. And it validates the opposition's low opinion of the Anti- Terror Law and the judicial supervision of elections, etc. The current situation is one that encourages the silent majority to remain silent.

It was hoped that constitutional amendments, however limited, would open the door for public debate. But the whole experience has fallen on its face, for the regime was so obsessed with eliminating the Islamic current that it paid no heed to civil liberties.