Friday, June 1, 2012

#Egyelections : The people demand and The candidates will have to listen

Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafik want our vote , the majority of vote that they did not in the first stage of the presidential elections. Most of these votes ironically are the Pro-Revolutionary votes who are still in shock on how these two reached to the runoffs.
We are in a very powerful position theotrically and this is why several political groups and powers began to speak about negotiations between them and the presidential candidates especially Morsi and the Muslim brotherhood.
Now most liberal and non Islamist powers and parties are between two hells , between the possibility of the continuity of the military state or the beginning of the religious state. They want guarantees , concessions from the Muslim brotherhood more than Shafik in order to endorse Morsi who is in the end part of the revolution whether you approve or disapprove with the Muslim brotherhood.
A group of liberal and leftist parties and figures presented a document to both candidates with set of demands to keep the state civilian not a military or religious. Bassem Sabry published the articles of that document.
Koert Debeuf , a former adviser of a Belgian PM and current representative of the EU parliament's Alde group in Cairo represented as an outside a set of demands to both candidates  :
  • A Non MB Vice president
  • A Non MB prime minister
  • Half of the cabinet’s ministers to be from outside the MB
  • 50% + 1 of the constituent assembly to from outside the Islamists
  • All the decisions signed by the president and Vice president.
Interestingly this post was translated in to Arabic and published in Al Moheet website that is owned by Khairat El Shater of MB !! It was also featured in Yosri Fouda’s TV show “Last Talk”
Kolena Khaled Said” and Wael Ghonim  also presented to the Muslim brotherhood the “National  ” document with a set of demands  and asked the people to approve it online through joining an event on the Facebook. Here is the document in Arabic.
Here are the demands :
  • The constituent assembly should include be representative for all Egyptians for real including proper representation for women and Christians. 25% of its members should be law and constitutional experts.
  • The President should have two Vice presidents “like Abu El Fotouh and Sabbahi” with set of powers known to everybody.
  • Mohamed Morsi to resign from the Muslim brotherhood and Freedom and Justice Party. “He actually promised this”
  • A new coalition cabinet whose prime minister is from outside FJP and includes women , Christians and Youth for real.
  • FJP should include in its agenda laws that support # Jan25 revolution demands like the minimum level of wages.
44,374 Egyptians have approved the document so far @12:43 AM Cairo local time since its launch.
Most of the documents proposed are actually targeting the Muslim brotherhood as well they share the same demands I spoke about before in my post regarding the elections : The VP position , the cabinet and the constituent assembly.
In any political bargaining I think you should negotiate both parties especially if those parties are untrusted. Already I do not have doubt at all that Khairat El Shater is holding talks with SCAF , he is merchant in the beginning and the end.
The Muslim brotherhood youth believe that this is blackmail and I will tell them one thing : This is politics my dear and you should ask Khairat El Shater for his deals with the NDP and SS during the 2005 parliamentary elections.

Updated on 1/6 : 

And Abdel Moneim Abu El Fotouh got his own document with its own set of demands from the MB. The former leading member of MB had a meeting with Mohamed Morsi from two days ago. The demands are :

  • The constituent assembly to be representative for all the sectors in Egyptian society with proper representation for legal and constitutional experts. It should be formed before the runoffs.
  • Two vice presidents from outside the majority party with pre-determined powers
  • A coalition cabinet headed by a prime minister form outside the majority party with proper representation of women , Christians and Youth. Important ministries like foreign affairs , interior and information to be head by technocrat ministers. 
  • The complete independence of the president from any partisan affiliation 

Now there are contradicting reactions from the Muslim brotherhood as usual regarding Abu El Fotouh's document , already if you notice its conditions are just the same like the above.
Today @2 PM the liberal and leftist parties and figures behind the Document of pledge will announce it in a press conference at the press syndication in Cairo. Most of the political powers are giving MB a week to think and say their final word. 

8 comments:

  1. I hope they will agree to most of these demands. It would imply they are half decent and we can move to a post revolution political scene. However please don't be so naiive. All those who voted for AF and Sabbahi are not anti-muslim Brotherhood. And even more so they are not anti Islamist. Indeed the vast majority of Egyptians want a future where Islamic vlaues can be more prominent in political, economic and social life without fear of persecution as in the past.
    Do your maths. 75% supported an Islamist trend in the parliamentary elections. In the presidentials elections 25% went to MB 20% to Sabbahi and 20% to AF and a few percent to Amr Moussa. That represents a broad spectrum of the Muslim vote from pro MB to pro more liberal islamic position. It is a good thing it is diverse. I voted for the Wasat but in this run off we all need to vote for Morsy. God knows SCAF will cheat anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You should read the article of fahmy howaidi, he talks about blackmailing..

    Some demands are logical (better representation in assembly, mixed cabinet, ...) some demands are just crazy (like dis-assemble ikhwan, vise-president with powers equal to president, ...)

    And you know what? Morsy doesn't need the votes of the extremists. He needs the votes of the moderates, the non-political youth and sofa's party.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Z, it sounds from the latest reports like you guys are taking Americans hostage these days. This policy will be bad for tourism.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It has certainly a bad effect on their country. You're right jason, tourism would be the first.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes jason This policy will be bad for tourism. The most thing is that how we can change them...! And Yousf thanks for nice article.. !

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happily the two American hostages have been freed. Another piece of news that surely pleases Zeinobia is that the emergency law has been allowed to expire. Thank goodness the news isn't all bad.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The problem with the MB is two-fold. They believe that the protests against Mubarak extending his rule and maybe passing off to his sons were a protest in favor of their group.
    Obviously,this is not the case. Egyptians had the chance to choose Morsy & the MB in the 1st round. By 3 to 1 they did not.
    Why? Are the MB competent? Are they honest? Neither of these questions have been answered.

    Islam was a part of the power structure of Mubarak. It was not him who had the power to declare a muslim apostate, force him to divorce & banish him. This was done by Al-Azhar authorities during his rule. So they have always had influence & power over ordinary Egyptians. Making Egypt more religious, more pious isn't going to solve real problems or satisfy most people.

    Corruption is not a religous issue. What is the difference between a blogger being beaten to death by security agents & a
    preacher issuing a fatwa for the execution of a blogger for "unislamic activities"(this has happened in Iran)? In both cases, goons kill the individual.

    Egyptians (and Sunnis) like to distinguish themselves from Iran(Shia). Iran is a case study, lots of proven data, statistics. You are dreaming if you think you are different. Erdogan thought muslims were different "they are not capable of Genocide" (ie. Omar Bashir didn't plan the extinction of millions of black muslims). I wonder what he says now looking across his border to Syria and the other Bashir.

    Islamic values are fantastic, great, beautiful. If you think so I think so. But they are not going to be the solution to the problem.If someone has a broken back you won't cure him with pennicilin. Only a quack would think that.

    MB & the military are rivals(competing for power) not enemies. The "enemies" will be all the others.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Excuse my ignorance as I am not Egyptian. But what are the general political views of Mr. Morsi?! I find it odd that "Freedom and Justice Party" being connected to the Muslim brotherhood. Islamists are against liberty and freedom, so which is it: Freedom or Islam that he stands for?!

    And what is the deal with Mr. Shafik?! What are his political views?!

    ReplyDelete

Thank You for your comment
Please keep it civilized here, racist and hateful comments are not accepted
The Comments in this blog with exclusion of the blog's owner does not represent the views of the blog's owner.