Change, but not here

By Salama A Salama

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The world is going through irreversible changes these days. Look at what happened in Japan, where the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a party that dominated political life for nearly 60 years, suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the opposition, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Interestingly enough, DPJ leader Hatoyama, himself a scion of a rich industrialist family, is a former member of the LDP who broke away in 1992.

It would be silly to compare Japan's LDP with Egypt's National Democratic Party (NDP). The Egyptian ruling party has been in power for nearly the same length of time. And yet we have no inkling of change, not from inside the party or outside it.

Also the LDP was never a one-man show. Over the years, its leadership has changed hands. And when the political climate changed, Japanese voters were free to switch their loyalties with no impediment whatsoever.

Freed from the one party rule, Japan is expected to distance its foreign policy from the US while forging closer ties with Southeast Asian countries. But its relations with China and North Korea may remain strained for some time to come, mainly because of the latter's nuclear programme. What I am saying here is that the wind of change is blowing across the world and that no regime, not even capitalism, is immune to alteration.

Another sign of change is the release of Libya's Abdel-Basset Al-Megrahi from a Scottish prison. The Lockerbie bombing, in which 270 passengers died, led to a blockade that lasted more than 10 years on Libya, during which time the Libyans handed over Al-Megrahi to the UK, where he received a life sentence.

The full details of the release are not known yet. But some letters that had been exchanged between the British government in London and the Scottish authorities have been leaked to the press. The letters indicate that a deal was made. An oil exploration contract worth millions has been promised to British Petroleum. The contract wasn't activated until the Scottish authorities decided to release Al-Megrahi for health reasons. The release was made possible by an agreement allowing both countries to permit prisoners to spend the rest of their prison time in their country of origin.

The British government says it has nothing to do with this deal. Some UK officials voiced indignation over the affair. And the American and British media had a field day with the whole thing. Commentators lashed out against Gaddafi, and the fact that Libya openly celebrated Al-Megrahi's homecoming grated against Western sensitivities. Gaddafi made a big deal of it, if just to spite the British. The man who has been in power for 40 years, and was declared "king of kings" in Africa on occasion, wanted to rub some noses in the dust, if only to banish some of the humiliation he had suffered over the Lockerbie affair. The fact that the very countries that blockaded his nation for years were having a hard time with the press must have thrilled him to no end.

As the British press lashed out at the government, London had to release the text of the letters exchanged with Scotland. It had to prove to the public that it wasn't in cahoots with British Petroleum. It had to defend its good name. This is a far cry from how things are done in Egypt. To this day we have no access to the letters our government exchanged with Israel over the natural gas deal. We have no idea if the deal was good for us or only for the Israelis. We've ranted about it. We've complained all we can. But no explanation has been forthcoming.