WATANI International
17 July 2011
Political forces in Egypt today face a dilemma: either proceed ahead to elections in order to end the post-revolutionary rule of the military, or slow down the electoral timetable and prioritise the writing of a new Constitution.
New political parties want more time to organise and gain a foothold in the post-revolution political arena, and civil society groups are pushing for guarantees regarding the content of the new Constitution and the process by which it will be written.
Constitution first
There are concerns, however, that the Egyptian authorities cannot administer parliamentary elections—at least with results that will be accepted as legitimate—as early as September, particularly if the military leadership insists on using the extremely complicated electoral system outlined in a draft law proposed on 29 May.
Thirty-six different youth and political groups have joined the “Free Front for Peaceful Change” (FFPC) in backing a “Constitution First” campaign, which is seeking 15 million signatures to support a revised timetable through a founded committee comprising all representatives on the national front before any public elections are held.
Constitution-first supporters, mostly liberals and leftists, argue there is little sense in electing two houses of parliament and a president when the Constitution to be subsequently written is likely to change the political system significantly enough to require new elections within as little as a year.
Super-constitutional
Media figure Nabil Sharafeddin, editor-in-chief of Al-Azma (The Crisis) online journal, explains that, politically, Egypt is facing several options for a nascent upcoming State: civil, military, Islamist, and the so-called civil with an Islamic reference—an option which he particularly criticises as an attempt to market the Islamist option under a more subtle cloak, one that would deform and warp the civil State.
Regarding a new Egyptian constitution, Mr Sharafeddin recommends taking a cue from the German experiment which is based on the idea of governing rules—above-Constitutional articles—that fulfil the rights requirements of all the national and human components of the country. He demands the formulation of ten constitutional articles that determine the country’s civil identity and its commitment to the United Nations’ code of human rights and those endorsed by the global community.
Mohamed Nour Farahat, professor of constitutional law at Zagazig University, who is also calling for a Constitution first, points to the importance of “laying the foundation before building”. Mr Farahat fears that, since the Islamist forces appear to be the best-prepared on the political arena, imminent elections might very well bring in an Islamist rule that would then write the Constitution according to its own vision.
Elections first
The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and several other political forces claim that a new Constitution can only be legitimate if underpinned by elections; the current system mandates that the elected parliament chooses a 100-member constituent assembly that would oversee the writing of the Constitution, to be followed by a popular referendum on the document. They also argue that prioritising the writing of the Constitution would violate the will of voters in the March 2011 referendum, when three-quarters of voters supported constitutional amendments specifying the holding of parliamentary elections within six months.
Among those who back elections first is Amr Moussa, a potential nominee for presidency. Mr Moussa stresses the importance of not extending the transformation phase in Egypt, and is calling for presidential elections first, to be followed by parliamentary elections, then a new Constitution. Mr Moussa prefers a French-style parliamentary presidential republic for Egypt.
New rules
In the wake of the 25 January Revolution, the Military Council held a national reconciliation conference under the chairmanship of the lawyer and former Vice-Prime minister Yehia al-Gamal. Among the urgent issues discussed was the law of the People’s Assembly, the lower house of Egypt’s Parliament.
The conference recommended radical changes to the 1972 Law of the People’s Assembly, currently in force. It demanded the application of a slate system, the scrapping of the 50 per cent quota of seats assigned to labourers and peasants, and rejected the allocation of a women’s quota in parliament.
Regarding the upper house of Parliament, the Shura (Consultative) Council, it was recommended that the minimum age of members would be 30 years rather than the current 35, and that the presidential prerogative of appointing 10 members to the council would be scrapped.
Members of the now defunct and previously ruling National Democratic Party would be banned from political activity for five years, as would be anyone convicted of corruption.
As far as presidential elections are concerned, the conference recommended that they should be carried out with voters using their ID cards instead of the current voter cards. There should be full judicial supervision, and citizens who hold citizenships in other countries in addition to their Egyptian citizenship should have the right to vote. Foreign funding of electoral campaigns would be banned, and a ceiling set for campaign costs. Also banned would be the use of public facilities for campaigning. A presidential candidate should have performed his military service in the Egyptian army, or been legally exempted from it.
The voting right of Egyptians outside Egypt was the subject of heated debate. While one camp saw that immigrants had no right to vote, and only those who work abroad temporarily could vote, others saw that every holder of an Egyptian passport anywhere in the world could vote.
The majority, however, finally agreed that Egyptians outside Egypt could vote in the Egyptian embassies or consulates in their respective countries, under judicial supervision, through a single constituency in every continent.
Parties galore
There are today some 50 political parties in Egypt, 23 of which go back to before the 25 January Revolution. While before the revolution religious parties were banned, Islamists have a free hand today to form parties. Consequently, some five parties which advocate political Islam in one way or another are now present on the scene. Major among them is the al-Wassat (the Middle) party, which calls for a moderate Islamic rule such as that in Turkey; the al-Hurriya wal-Adaala (the Freedom and Justice) party, which emerged out of but is reportedly independent of the Muslim Brotherhood; and the al-Nour (the Light) Salafi party. Other Islamist parties under establishment are being founded by jihadi Islamists and by Sufis, but it is expected that they will form strong coalitions with the more major Islamic parties in order to secure better chances of winning seats in parliament. The Islamist parties have announced that their membership is open to all Egyptians, and they are working hard to include Copts on their lists. In many cases they have been known to offer Copts in poorer areas financial assistance as well as food and medical aid on the precondition of joining the party. This is particularly true in the case of the Salafi al-Nour party.
No one can mistake the fact that Islamist rhetoric is moving towards the increasingly aggressive by the day. Whereas the Islamists started off by trying to win over the public with such notions as that Islam was not opposed to democracy or freedom, their speech today goes more along the line that secularism is against the will of Allah and that voting for non-Islamists is tantamount to betrayal.
The other parties on the arena are mainly liberals; a few are leftists or Nasserist—meaning they hold strong Arabist views. They are all calling for an Egyptian renaissance and for social justice. The liberals advocate a civil society of equal rights and freedom for all, and a free market, while the leftists call for a socialist system and workers’ rights. A party such as al-Nil (the Nile) recognises Egypt’s African roots and is calling for stronger ties with the black continent.
Coalitions
After small parties appeared on the political arena, the concept of unions, coalitions and mergers gained ground. The first such merger was between al-Islaah wal-Tanmiya (The Reform and Development) party and Misrina (Our Egypt).
The venerable Wafd party, considered a stronghold of liberalism ever since it was first founded in 1923, decided to take a controversial turn and form a coalition with the Islamist al-Hurriya wal-Adaala.
Under the motto of “Life, Freedom, Human Dignity” six parties merged into what they dubbed the al-Gabha (the Front). These parties are Hizb al-Gabha al-Dimoqratiya (the Democratic Front Party), al-Tahaluf al-Misry (the Egyptian Coalition), Shabaab Misr al-Hurr (Egypt’s Free Youth), Hizb Misr al-Umm (Egypt, the Mother), Libraleyeen 25 Yanayer (25 January Liberals), and I’tilaaf min Agl Misr (Coalition for Egypt). “We aim to build a new Egypt,” commented Ussama al-Ghazali Harb, head of the Democratic Front Party, adding that the merger is not against any entity but the Muslim Brotherhood.
US-MB dialogue
Among the recent moves on the political scene, and one which has aroused plenty of controversy, was the announcement by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the US was conducting talks with the MB and has been doing so since as far back as 2005. Even though the declaration came as a surprise to many members of the public, who were for decades given to believe the two were archenemies, it was not so surprising to the more seasoned politicians.
Nabil Zaki of the Tagammu party reminds us that, for the US, interests come first; and that it is easier for America to deal with a dictatorship or a religious authority than with a democracy. That said, according to Zaki, it is obvious the US is not keen to see any real democratic change in Egypt.
“Since 25 January the MB have been behaving as though they own the Egyptian political street,” Mamdouh Qinawi, head of the al-Igtimaai al-Dostouri al-Hurr (Free Social Constitutional) party says, “especially since they have now established a political party. The US cannot exclude any substantial political group,” he says.
Bahaa Eddin Badr of the Wafd party which allied itself to the Freedom and Justice party that arose out of the MB, makes the [predictable] point that: “It is stupid to bury your head in the sand and ignore an existing power.”
Candidates for the presidency
Twenty-three candidates have to date announced their intentions to run for president. In an online poll carried out by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the top runners were Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed al-Baradei, 70; former Foreign Minsiter and secretary-general of the Arab League Amr Moussa, 75; lawyer, former political dissident and founder of the liberal Ghadd party Ayman Nour, 47; and the Islamist Selim al-Awwa, 70.
Other Islamists apart from al-Awwa who plan to run for president include Abdel-Moniem Abul-Fotouh, a medical doctor and prominent MB member; Sheikh Hassan Abu-Ismail, a high-ranking MB member and lawyer; Abdullah al-Ashaal, an Islamic scholar, diplomat, and professor of international law; and the journalist Magdi Ahmed Hussein.
Also planning to run are the prominent media female figure Buthaina Kamel; former Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzuri, 77; lawyer and some time chairman of the Zamalek Sporting Club Murtada Mansour, 59 (who is notorious for filing court proceedings and for provoking controversy in the media); and the prominent liberal judge Hisham al-Bastawisi, 60.