In Egypt, Is There a Revolution II?

News from the Egyptian Street and Media Translated Without Comment from Arabic into English As a Public Service
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Yes.  The volcanoes in Tahrir and elsewhere have erupted again.  And with clashes came casualties.  The scenes give the impression that the January 25 Revolution has not yet spent itself.  But why?

The only clear answer which may not be the only answer is that “the Mother of the Arab Spring” is weary of the intentions of the SCAF (the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces).  Having lived under a military dictatorship since July 23, 1952, the 90-million strong Egyptians are trying to show the SCAF the exit door.  They are hungry for the pre-1952 Egypt: a multi-party democracy which was anchored in the 1923 Constitution, but this time without the King.

But the SCAF has not said that it wants to stay beyond the elections, perhaps in 2013, of a President.  What seems to have caused the eruption is the ambiguity of the SCAF declarations.  That ambiguity has expressed its content in rumors.  It is well known that in the absence of credible information, resulting from dictatorship, rumors acquire the force of established facts.

Other factors have compounded the dangers of the November 18 eruptions or Revolution II: the hesitant decision-making by the civilian government of Dr. Essam Sharaf, whose resignation might become a reality.  The populace accuses it of being a rubber stamp for the SCAF.  Though the Sharaf Cabinet includes a Minister for Democratic transformation, Dr. Aly El-Salamy, the march towards the promised land of democracy looks to the anxious public as moving at snail’s pace.

On top of that, one finds a genuine apprehension of the emergence of the new Egypt as a religious entity.  Though the Egyptians, whether Muslims or Copts, are by nature a religious people (monotheism began in Egypt under Akhenaton thousands of years ago), there is fear of the eventual assumption by the so-called “Islamists” of power through the upcoming elections.  Both the Copts and the liberal parties are genuinely concerned about this eventuality.  Such a development would also be abhorrent to women who have reasserted their role, through the Arab Spring, in Egyptian civil society.

It should be also noted that Al-Azhar (the Glorious) has asserted in its document of August 17, drafted by both Muslim and Coptic leaders, that “Islam does not recognize State based on religion.”  But such assurances have been overwhelmed by yet other immediate concerns, namely, the role of the military in the Egypt of the future.

Suspicion of the SCAF, whether rightly or wrongly, is rooted in an article in what is now called “The Declaration of Principles of the Constitution of Modern Egypt.”  That article, “Article 9” states among other things that: “… The Armed Forces have a special status and have their own detailed concerns which relate to national security, and which have to be taken into account when considering their technical matters and budget…  The Armed Forces shall have their Supreme Council which is charged with the exclusive responsibility of considering all their concerns.  The views of that Supreme Council shall be sought in all legislation affecting the Armed Forces before the promulgation of such legislation…”

Article 9, therefore, looks to the millions in Tahrir and elsewhere in Egypt, as creating an exceptional status for the Armed Forces by putting them either above civilian authority or parallel to that authority.  Democratic Egypt rejects such interpretation although the document containing it says that these articles are only “Constitutional Guidelines.”  This is again another cause for concern agitating the masses which call for the establishment of a Constituent Assembly after the parliamentary elections.  The task of the Constituent Assembly is the drafting of a new Constitution.  Thus Tahrir asks: “Why have Guidelines at all” to the basic law document which should be left for its elected authors?

There are even further concerns for the Tahrir masses.  These masses say: “Why has that Document replaced the term a secular State by the term a democratic State?”

In the midst of all these ambiguities, arguments, demonstrations and casualties including fatalities, the biggest concern now is: “In which direction is the Egyptian Revolution --- the Mother of the Arab Spring --- heading??”

The Road to the Future Runs Through Reconciliation

News from the Egyptian Street and Media Translated Without Comment from Arabic into English As a Public Service
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In Cairo, the Council of State adopted earlier this month a historic judicial ruling.  It stated that former members of the now defunct Democratic National Party (DNC) (the one party which ran Egypt under Mubarak) were eligible to compete as independents or members of newly-formed parties in the parliamentary elections to be held later this November.

The ruling signaled that the Egyptian Revolution, in spite of anxiety about the future role of the SCAF (the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces) in Egypt's governance, is shunning revenge.  It was a declaration of revolutionary modernity whereby the Tahrir uprising is seeking to be inclusive of all Egyptians.  What added to the significance of the action taken by the Council of State is that its ruling overturned a prior judgment by a lower court in Mansoura (the Delta, west of the Suez Canal) which banned all those who belonged to the DNC from all forms of political participation.  The lower court has reasoned that the DNC, having been the tool of "political corruption" (i.e. dictatorship) under the Mubarak regime, all of those who carried its membership card were culpable.

It is to be noted here that one of the first acts of the January 25 revolutionaries was to burn to the ground the headquarters of the DNC, a magnificent building overlooking the Nile.  With that building went the hypocritical sign on it that declared to all Egyptians, "We Are for You."  Interpretation by the Egyptian masses: "They Are Not for Us."

The Deputy President of the Council of State, Dr. Mahmoud El-Attaar, in explaining the legal underpinning of that historic act of national reconciliation referred to an earlier decision by Egypt's High Constitutional Court issued on June 1, 1986.

In that decision the Constitutional Court nullified the constitutionality of an earlier law adopted in 1978 through a plebiscite declaring all those who belonged to any political party prior to the 1952 Revolution (the Nasser Coup d'etat) are disenfranchised.  The reasoning for the 1978 law was the same as the reasoning for the ruling of the lower court (in Mansoura) which was stricken out of the books by the Council of State in November 2011, namely: corrupting political life.

But the giants of the Egyptian judiciary and the great judicial publicists like the late Dr. Waheed Raafat and the late Dr. Farouk Abdel-Barr, who belonged to the school of our beloved and departed Dr. Al-Sanhouri objected to the 1978 law, disregarding the results of that plebiscite as pure dictatorial manipulation of the popular will.

The line of Egyptian judicial continuum from nullifying the law of 1978 to striking down the ruling of a lower court in Mansoura was as follows: "These laws deprive Egyptian citizens from exercising their civil and political rights under the Constitution."  It went on to say in the words of Counselor Mahmoud El-Attaar: "That deprivation is very broad in nature, and is based not on specific inculpation of political corruption, but on theory and suspicion not anchored in a specific legal provision."

Nothing could explain the wrongful disenfranchising of a broad sector of Egyptian society under the recently-abrogated ruling, like providing the case of one member of the now dissolved Egyptian Parliament.  It is the case of House member Alaa Makady, Number 333, of Samalloot, province of El-Minya, in upper Egypt, and one of our Regional Representatives of SUNSGLOW - Global Training in the Rule of Law.

Mr. Makady had occupied that parliamentary seat from 2005 to 2010 succeeding to a long line of the Makady family who were always voted in by the public to that seat since 1958.  The Makadys are a proud clan which played throughout modern Egyptian history a critical role in the independence of Egypt from Great Britain and in the development of economic, political, and social life in that part of the great southern Egypt, called Al-Ssaeed.  I have personally witnessed the results of their charitable contributions to the poor in their area of the Province of El-Minya, and their incessant work for interfaith harmony between Muslims and Christians/(Coptic) in southern Egypt.

The Makadys role in Muslim/Coptic harmony has no clear parallel in the Nile Delta (Northern or Lower Egypt) for one simple reason.  Al-Ssaeed works on the basis of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) which we, as law professors in America, teach in law schools.  Upper Egypt acts on Coptic-Muslim disputes, which usually implicate land boundaries rather than religion, on the basis of inter-clan conciliation.  The Nile Delta is not so deeply engaged in that quick dispute resolution mechanism which costs very little and lasts for generations.  I have personally made presentations before the Makady - created "The National Society for Human Rights" where Coptic priests sat in large numbers, next to Muslim Sheikhs, as brothers.

Alaa Makady won his family seat in 2005 not as a DNC member, but as an independent.  So how can he be prevented from exercising his civil and political rights only because he sat in a parliament, now dissolved, which was dominated by the DNC.  I asked Alaa by phone: "Are you now going to run as an independent?"  His answer was a "No" with a hearty El-Minya/Samalloot laughter of satisfaction!!

In a Slow Motion Towards a Constitution

News from the Egyptian Street and Media Translated Without Comment from Arabic into English As a Public Service
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In his seminal book in Arabic, The Future of Culture in Egypt, the great Egyptian philosopher, Dr. Taha Hussein wrote: "Power derives from the people.  That power does not issue from either ignorance, or distraction, or stupidity.  Nor does it issue form submissiveness, nor servitude."  (p.94)

He was blind, a graduate of Al-Azhar University (The Glorious), educated also in France, married a French woman, and became in the late 1940s Egypt's Minister of Education.  Above all, he was the father of free education including university education, as he espoused the principle that constitutionalism and democracy needed for their protection an educated public.  Taha Hussein saw clearly, though he was blinded since age 5, the indelible link between liberty and education.

Now with the resurrection of democracy in Egypt from the ashes of military rule from 1952 to 2011 (Mubarak was made to abdicate power on February 11, a mere 9 months ago today), Egypt, in a slow motion, is inching towards the drafting of a new constitution for a secular Egypt.

In spite of that slow motion, the excitement is palpable.  On November 10, I received the following email:

"Dear All:  I am very proud today that I was able to register myself to vote abroad in the upcoming elections.  The process was very easy and did not take more than 5 minutes.  Hurry up!!"

That email was sent to many persons including myself by a young physician (radiologist), Dr. Osama Raslan, a friend and the son of friends.  It was in reference to the parliamentary elections which will take place later this month in all the 27 provinces of Egypt.  In these elections, 38 political parties are competing in a broad spectrum from liberals to Islamists emerging from the suppression of military rule.  And what a rainbow of diversity!!

What is emblematic about that forward motion, from parliamentary election, to a constituent assembly, to drafting the new constitution for post-Mubarak Egypt is that the present Cabinet of Egypt includes a Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Aly Al-Salami.  His portfolio is entitled "Democratic Change and Political Development."  In his attempt to convene a conference of all the parties competing in the upcoming parliamentary elections, the Deputy Prime Minister was rebuffed by the "Freedom and Justice Party" which has spun off the Muslim Brotherhood.  Said the Secretary-General  of the FJP, Dr. Saad El-Katatni that all Islamist-oriented parties (which include 4 parties made up of Salafis -the farthest to the right of those Islamic groupings):

"This is an attempt to confuse public opinion by busying it with principles intended to freeze the upcoming drafting of the new constitution within the framework of those principles.  It is a sabotage of the popular will."

The secular parties disagreed.  They were led by the historic party Al-Wafd (akin to the Congress Party of India) which hoisted the banner of Egypt's independence from Great Britain in the Revolution of 1919.  They said that the proposed conference will have before it no less than eight documents dealing with "Constitutional Guidelines."  The sources of these documents are diverse, including one authored, for debate, by the Supreme Military Council which governs Egypt at present on an interim basis.

The essential debate is driven by the fear of sabotaging the march of the new Egypt towards democracy, dignity and development (the 3 Ds).  Thus the opposition to those constitutional guidelines can be seen from the lense of suspicion of authority engrained in the public psyche over more than half a century of army rule.  The term "guidelines" was read "trusteeship."

Egypt's road map towards constitutionalism have these road signs: from parliamentary elections this November; to a new Parliament; to the selection by the new House of Representatives (Majlis Al-Shaab: the People's House) of a hundred "personalities" forming the Constituent Assembly; to the drafting within 6 months from the date of convening the Constituent Assembly of the new post-Mubarak constitution; to a plebiscite to be held within 15 days of completion of that draft on a consensual basis for its approval; then finally to the promulgation of the new constitution.

Against this background, the voice of secular Egypt was raised by one of the new parties "Al-Messriyoun Al-Ahrar -the Free Egyptians" established by Naguib Saweeris, a prominent Copt.

A member of the Political Bureau of the AA, Dr. Muhammad Hamid declared: "There is fear from any form of control or domination by the extreme religious right over the Constituent Assembly!!"  Then in support of the preparation of guidelines for that Assembly as of now, Dr. Hamid added: "We need a constitution which provides for a secular State, for the protection of civil rights and liberties including the protection of minorities, and for principles reflecting a broad consensus."

STAY TUNED!! WATCH FOR THE ACCELERATION OF THAT SLOW MOTION

When the Headlines in Egypt's Press Tell the Whole Story

News from the Egyptian Street and Media Translated Without Comment from Arabic into English As a Public Service
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The press in Egypt after Mubarak had found its mouth: loud, uninhibited, and very personal.

The news of the forthcoming elections for Parliament later this month are dominating.  Why not?  There are more than 38 parties in competition and the cartoons humorously reflect that intra-Egyptian race for a piece of the pie very cogently.

In the newspaper Al-Gomhouriya (the Republic), the distinguished cartoonist Ahmad Toughan has an interesting caricature.  A candidate in these highly-contested elections comes by accident upon a poorly-dressed man, thrusts his hand forward in a forced hand shake and exclaims to the bewildered man:  "Where have you been, Man!!  I have missed you for a long time!  In fact I am running for a parliamentary seat - ONLY FOR YOU!!"

But electioneering by the parties spawned of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the more to the religious right, the Salafis (see our earlier blogs) issue an assuring election devise:  No banners carrying religious symbols.  The Muslim Brotherhood-oriented political party "Al-Horriyah Wa Al-Adaalah" (Freedom and Justice) carries in its newspaper an interview with the Secretary-General of that party, Mr. Saad Al-Katatni states:

"The Democratic Coalition For Egypt shall enter this race under the motto, We Bring Good Things to Egypt.  This indicates the great aspirations of the parties in that Coalition for serving Egypt and its public during this important juncture in Egypt's modern history."

What about the motto "Islam is the Solution"?, asked the interviewer of Mr. Al-Katatni.  His response was:

"This is the historic motto of the Muslim Brotherhood which established the party and which it uses since 1987.  But the party will not use this motto because it does not wish to impose it on its partners in that Coalition.  But the party may use it in future elections."

Not all of the headlines in the Egyptian press were devoted to those historic elections for the House of Representatives.

Some of those headlines dealt with the attendance of Field Marshal Tantawi, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the de facto President of Egypt during this eventful transition, at the naval exercises conducted by Egypt in its territorial waters.

Other headlines featured the news of the meeting held by the Prime Minister, Dr. Essam Sharaf, with the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Counsellor Hossam Al-Gheriani, and the President of the "Judicial Club," Counsellor Ahmad El-Zind to solve the problem of the Egyptian Bar.  The problem revolves around what constituted disruptive behavior of some Egyptian lawyers in the Courts.  The Egyptian Bar, located in Cairo, is a member of the Federation of the Arab Bar Associations, also located in Cairo.  The lawyers are claiming immunity from what they regard as harassment by judges presiding over court litigation  These issues are not yet resolved.

While on judicial matters in the new Egypt, the headlines also dealt with the appearance by deposed President Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Jamal, together with former Minister of the Interior, Mr. Habib Al-Adli and others, before the Criminal Court.  The trial has been instituted on the basis of charges of corruption, abuse of authority, theft of public funds, illegal ownership of land and real estate, torture and the killing of peaceful demonstrators by government security forces, during the historic uprising in Tahrir  and elsewhere in Egypt which began on January 25, 2011.

The fear from an unwanted return to military rule or domination of the politics of post-Mubarak Egypt was also palpable in these headlines.  The newspaper Al-Masri Al-Yom (The Egyptian Today) had an article raising dark suspicions regarding the ultimate intentions of Egypt's Supreme Military Council.  It said in part:

"The Council is an integral part of a regime which lost only its head, but not its body." 

The article written by a woman journalist, Sahar Al-Jaarah, opined that:

"The continuity of our revolution is our biggest cause for faith in the future.  This is Revolution Until Victory.  There are no other alternatives."