In the Constitutional Declaration, an interim legal measure acting as a stop gap pending the drafting of a permanent Constitution for Egypt later this year, there is an important provision for those who are now aspiring to run for president of Egypt. It says that a candidate for the highest office in this important Arab country, must prove that neither he nor she, nor their parents have ever carried a non-Egyptian passport.
This provision is proving very troublesome to two potential presidential candidates whose orientation is Islamic. They are: Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a Salafi (extreme Islamist) and Muhammad Saleem Al-Awwa. The rumors flooding Egypt now is that the late mother of Abu Ismail had a US passport, and that the father of Al-Awwa was a of Syrian nationality. Oops!!
A flurry of angry responses, for and against, erupted. Abu-Ismail declared that his own group was stabbing him in the back. They were, the would-be candidate charged, a bunch of liars. Only his sister, who resides in America, carries a US passport, he retorted. His late mother, he claimed, had only a green card, and was never a US citizen.
In rebuttal to Abu-Ismail, Sheikh Tarek Youssef, an Imam of a mosque in Brooklyn countered as he shook with anger in an interview with an Egyptian cable channel called Dream. "Abu-Ismail is lying about his mother's nationality. She was an American citizen, thus her son cannot be a candidate for the Egyptian presidency."
At long last, the Supreme Commission for Presidential Elections, stepped in the sea of mutual recrimination. It said that Egypt's Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior had been requested to check on the backgrounds of all aspirants to the presidential post. Until those investigations are completed, no one should presume what the results might be.
In the meantime, rumors were flying hard and fast about attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood to have Abu-Ismail cede his campaign in favor of its own would be candidate Khairat El-Shatter, a millionaire businessman. The price for Abu-Ismail's withdrawal would be a vice-presidential position in an El-Shatter administration. "Absolutely, No," Abu-Ismail's campaign declared. A vice-presidential candidate is not subject to the same restrictions noted above with regard to a non-Egyptian nationality. He ended up being excluded from running for president.
Yet in the first mass rally for El-Shatter, there were voices of support which were drowned by counter voices in opposition. Those opposed to the nominee of the Brotherhood declared on its Facebook page that the nomination of El-Shatter was a disaster. The Muslim Brotherhood, with a 50% of parliamentary seats, "should not have presented a nominee. It is a dangerous trap!! It is wrong for the Brotherhood to shoulder alone the entire heavy burden of ruling Egypt, by cornering for itself both the legislative powers and presidential power as well. This is a recipe for disaster."
Le us now turn our attention to the Constituent Assembly of 100 which is charged with the awesome responsibility of drafting a post Mubarak constitution. All eligible voters would say "yea" or "nay" on it in a national referendum whose result would establish a legal baseline for the presidential elections. The Islamists (the Brotherhood and the Salafis) control 70% of seats in the new Parliament.
In a move to deny the Islamists the exercise of those monopolistic powers in the legislature, in the drafting of a Constitution, and in connection with the election of the president, members of the liberal secular parties simply walked away from the Assembly of 100. This put the onus on the Islamist majority to fill that critical gap in order to legitimize the constitutionality of the Assembly of 100.
Feverish attempts at compromise followed: "Please come back. We need you. OK?? The vote in the Assembly shall not be 50% + 1; it shall be 60%. We shall also abide by Al-Azhar declarations about diversity, inclusiveness, and representativeness of the entire rainbow of Egyptian society including the Copts. Would you please come back??" "No!" said the secularists. "Your Assembly has no legitimacy because it does not reflect the shades of the entirety of Egyptian public opinion."
Rage On, Egypt!! Democracy lives on intelligent compromises. So find your way to a middle ground!!
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