Affirmative action?

One more document on the future of Egypt. So what's new, asks Mona El-Nahhas

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Security, justice and dignity are the guiding principles of the draft document produced by 39 politicians and intellectuals which has the ambitious goal of seeking to redirect Egypt's future course.

Work on the document, which was the brainchild of late politician Aziz Sedqi, began eight months ago. It makes no specific policy proposals but seeks to enshrine general guidelines.

Ali El-Salmi, a former minister of state for administrative affairs, and a key figure in drafting the document, says it deliberately seeks to address all political groups. Leftists, liberals, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Copts were all invited to participate in the drafting which was organised in such a way as to prevent any single political trend from imposing its views. Members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) are also thought to have taken part.

That the tone of the document deliberately avoids any head on clash with the current governing system "will encourage a large number of political reformists to join hands with the document's makers" predicts political analyst Amr El-Shobki, a recent recruit to the drafting team. No political reform, he says, can be achieved without reformists from both inside and outside the governing system pressing for change.

The document calls for a civil and democratic state to be established with a new constitution that guarantees the rotation of power, limits the number of presidential terms and allows the president to be questioned. It also demands clear separation of the judiciary, the executive and legislative authorities, and the holding of elections under complete judicial supervision.

The document calls for an end to all forms of discrimination, open access to job opportunities for all citizens, and a much fairer distribution of national income. Citizens, it stresses, must no longer be marginalised, and members of the public should feel free to speak their minds without fear of their opinions adversely affecting their future.

In one controversial article the document calls for the ministries of culture and information to be abolished so as to liberate the media from existing shackles.

The document, first published last week by the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, caused a stir among politicians and analysts. While some thought it a timely initiative others claimed it contributed little, if anything, that was new, pointing out that most of the guarantees it demands already exist, at least in theory, in the current constitution.

"I totally agree with everything mentioned in the document," Hossam Badrawi, a Shura Council member and chairman of the NDP's Education Committee, was quoted as saying. Badrawi went on to add, however, that any implementation of the document's recommendations would be mired in endless differences, a result, he argued, of its lacking any overall strategy.

The document, say its drafters, is not final. It should be seen as a preliminary paper, subject to numerous amendments before being finally drafted. This will take at least a year.

So who will make amendments and then decide what happens next? The answer is unclear.

"Every Egyptian has the right to participate in tracing the future of his country," says political activist George Ishaq. Like other contributors to the document Ishaq hopes that it will help to revive the kind of spirited political debates that began in 2005 only to fall into decline.

Asked how the document will reach the general public, Ishaq told Al-Ahram Weekly that it will be made available on the Internet. "Seminars and public rallies will also be organised by the document makers to present it to the public." Ideally, he says, any publicity campaign should be accompanied by a drive to collect signatures in support of the document's recommendations.

"I don't think that the issues surrounding political reform are that interesting to ordinary people whose main concern is how to provide for their daily needs," argues El-Shobki.

Asked if politicians divorced from the general public can successfully press for change alone, El-Shobki replies that it all depends on the impression the document makes on political elites.

"If the document manages to attract a large number of politicians, intellectuals, judges and leading members of civil society the task will not be that difficult. I think these segments will constitute an effective means of pressure."