The New Egypt "Oktoberfest": A Parade of Ills and Attempted Solutions

There is hardly an easy transition from dictatorship to the magical world of democracy.  After the "Silence of the Lambs," for sixty years, the lid is off that boiling pot of discontent.  So if you wish to observe a unique Oktoberfest, we suggest that you don't go to Munich.  Your destination, we propose, should be Cairo.  There you will find a nation of 90 million being reborn, with all the attendant noises of a difficult birth.

The parade which you shall witness is that of ills and attempted solutions.

First you shall observe a bunch of drummers obstructing major railway junctions demanding higher pay.  Under Mubarak, security forces, backed up by a mighty military, would have been on the scene, breaking those demonstrations up, notwithstanding the number of human casualties.  But in the New Egypt, democracy calls first for negotiations which may or may not be backed up by a measured level of force.  The historic love for Mother Egypt - "Mother of the World" - would be invoked, and the drums, drummers, and throngs of discontented workers would eventually go home.

Next you shall hear armored personnel vehicles rumbling towards Northern Sinai in pursuit of bedouin marauders who, under Mubarak, have been marginalized.  The result of 30 years of neglect is that plundering and attacks on army posts and natural gas pipelines have become a way of life.  These events do not permit of negotiations, as security in Sinai is not only an internal issue; it is also a transborder headache.  Thus force is applauded, including capital punishment for the loss of innocent lives.  However, force only without more cannot solve an endemic problem stretched over a vast frontier.  So at the end of the columns of military might, comes in the parade a big sign raised by the first Sinai dweller to be appointed Deputy-Governor for North Sinai.  His name is Dr. Adel Qatamesh, who declares:

"We hope to restore Sinai to its natural place in Egypt's priorities.  We shall develop its huge natural resources in accordance with well developed plans.  Sinai possesses huge potentialities which have been neglected for far too long.  We intend to recreate in Sinai an engine for economic development for all of Egypt.  Unlimited jobs will be created."

Our parade of ills proceeds along a twisting road of hopes, struggles, expectations, and a big dose of hyperbole.  This time, the parade's segment is made of representatives of more than 25 liberal and secular parties.  They have been largely squeezed out of central stage by the unique device of fair elections.  The Islamists, both the moderate Muslim Brotherhood, and the ultras, called the Salafis, registered majoritarian gains in Parliament.  This sector of the parade is fronted by "the April 6 Movement," "the Free Egyptians," "the Popular Current," and "the Constitution Party."  What do they want?  Political Diversity!!  What do they mean by that?  The creation of an accountability lobby to keep the Islamists under secular scrutiny.

Now, with the sun setting down over the Great Pyramids of Giza west of Cairo, our parade of ills and proposed solutions accelerates its pace.

• The Constituent Assembly which is still in the midst of drafting a new Constitution is under continuous criticism.  The screams mix and mingle around some of the new articles dealing with: Sharia being "a primary" (not the primary) source of legislation; Al-Azhar's restoration to its traditional independence as the main source of interpretation of questions of Islamic faith; the renaming of the upper house of Parliament "the Senate," to replace "The Shura Council" (a nod toward secularity); and the judicial mechanism for suing the State (i.e. appealing Government executive decisions).

• The journalists want to draft a code of ethics to be administered by a National Information Authority.

• The Labor Unions gushing forth with several grievances, including the quickening pace of privatization of inherited public sector establishments.

• Then comes thousands of children seeking proper school buildings for their proper education, instead of tents set up in certain localities because of lack of funds.

The parade of ills goes on.  But it seems to roll by in a diminished state of agitation.  Hope in the New Egypt springs eternal.  As Egypt struggles through its difficult transition, including combating corruption and insecurity on the streets, a new spirit of this Egyptian Oktoberfest asserts itself:

National reconciliation including President Morsi honoring the late President Sadat posthumously. It was under the military regimes of sixty years, including the Sadat era, that the Muslim Brotherhood of which President Morsi was a presidential candidate, suffered the unmitigated pain of suppression.  The Mandela pattern of national reconciliation seems to accord more with the spirit of historic Egypt.