I had intended my first blog post upon my return to Egypt to
comment on the current political situation, which is what I was most eager to
witness and understand first hand. Over two weeks later, I am just as confused
as I was before I left. What I can say is that Egyptians seem to be no less
confused. I have heard tirades supporting and condemning Muhammad Mursi, the
recently elected President from the Muslim Brotherhood. In general, the
majority of family members I’ve talked to seem to at least think that his
winning the election was the lesser of two evils, but they are still cautious
to be at all optimistic. Many criticize his delay in assembling a cabinet or
addressing any of the numerous pressing problems that Egypt faces (some as
simple as the quality of subsidized bread for the impoverished 50% of Egypt’s
population).
Everyone is pondering his strategy thus far for gaining
popularity: continuing to live as an average Egyptian, and making himself very
visible and accessible to the public. After he was elected, he refused to move
into the presidential palace, the former residence of Mubarak. He continues to
live in his apartment with his family. Some people recently met him while
waiting in line for bread at a bakery. A friend of mine saw his wife walk into
a mosque in our neighborhood. We passed his convoy on the highway: at least a
kilometer’s worth of motorcycles and sleek black cars that held us up on the
ramp for all of maybe three minutes. (This is shockingly modest compared to the
ordeal Mubarak used to impose, which typically involved completely blocking
several routes through Cairo that he may or may not use, often trapping people
in traffic for seven or eight hours.) Mursi seems to be deliberately taking the
opposite approach in order to distinguish himself from the old regime and give
people the impression that he truly represents them. On night that he was
elected, he stood on a platform in Tahrir Square and announced that he was not
wearing a bulletproof vest. I would call this move both stupid and brilliant.
I’m sure he’s just about given each of his security guards an aneurism, but regardless
of his politics, I have to admire his courage and his gesture.
I have heard similarly conflicting opinions regarding Ahmad
Shafik, Mursi’s opponent in the final run-off election and a former prime minister
under Mubarak’s rule. Some Egyptians are still convinced that he would have
been a better candidate, arguing that he demonstrated some honesty during
Mubarak’s rule, and his questionable actions were pressured by his
circumstance. Many others believe that a victory for Shafik would have been
disastrous and a debilitating step backwards for the revolution. At least one
cousin I’ve spoken to was prepared to leave the country if he had won the
election. I may well have cancelled my trip to Egypt this summer if that had
been the case, and I’m certain that having Shafik in power would have seriously
complicated my personal and professional plans in Egypt for the immediate
future. I for one am glad to see Shafik out of the picture (in fact, he fled to
Abu Dhabi soon after the election was decided, because the court apparently
decided to resurface the dozens of allegations against him that I suppose where
conveniently suspended while he was running).
For now, I will remain cautiously optimistic about Mursi.
Honestly though, I don’t expect him to accomplish anything for a while, with
all the bickering and tricks going back and forth between the parliament and
the SCAF (Supreme Council of the Armed Forces – the ruling body representing
the military). The SCAF is still trying to hang on to whatever power they can.
Case in point: their most recent move was to dissolve the parliament a couple
weeks ago, claiming that the parliamentary elections had not been carried out
democratically because not enough independent party candidates were permitted
to run. The Constitutional Court ruled with them in this case, also declaring
that the parliamentary elections had been unconstitutional and the parliament
should be dismissed. Then as soon as Mursi took office, he rebuked the SCAF’s
decision and declared that he intended the parliament to remain. Now the
country is split between those who support Mursi’s decision and those who are damning
the new president for defying the Constitutional Court. The final decision
might be put to the people in a referendum.
Imagine if the American Legislative and Executive Branches
were questioning each other’s authority (which goes beyond the new norm of
arguing to the point of stale mate), and the Judicial Branch made a ruling to
decide the matter, but then the Legislative and Executive Branches questioned
the legitimacy of the Supreme Court… How in the world would anything get
solved?
On top of that, people are wondering if Mursi will even still
be president in six months, because technically he was elected without a
constitution in place (a referendum was passed after Mubarak stepped down,
deciding that the old constitution would be retained with some amendments, but
apparently that’s still in the works). Some are arguing that once Egypt
actually has a new constitution, a new president should come with it.
Like I said, it may be a while before any political progress
is made in Egypt. In the meantime, however, life goes on…
No comments:
Post a Comment