The Judiciary, The State and The People: Egypt’s Ongoing Saga
May 25th marked the anniversary of ‘Black Wednesday,’ the name given to May 25th 2005 when plainclothes government agents beat protestors and watched as pro-Mubarak supporters punched other demonstrators marring a referendum on whether to permit multiple parties to run during the presidential elections later that year. A year later and the saga continues , now back with even more vengeance.
This has been the fourth consecutive week of protesting despite statements from the Ministry of Interior that these demonstrations are ‘illegal’ and will not be tolerated. This has not halted the zealous Kefaya, Ghad and Muslim Brotherhood members which have sprawled to the streets along with about 300 pro-reform judges to fuel their anger over:
1) The state’s refusal to release hundreds of innocent demonstrators who have been taken in to custody over the last few weeks.
2) The state’s refusal to release Ayman Nour or at least reconsider his case. Nour has been sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly ‘forging’ documents to establish his Ghad party.
3) The NDP’s refusal to separate the judiciary from the state and granting it its own independence.
4) The NDP’s hindering efforts for reform, their inhuman methods of protecting themselves from anything that would jeopardize their power and disallowing ‘true’ democratic principles to start fueling society as well as any freedom of speech.
5) Hosni Mubarak; who (in their eyes) has betrayed the country, fooled the people and brought Egypt backward both economically and socially.
The Egyptian pro-reform judges stood in front of the Supreme Court house during the anti-government protest chanting anti-government slogans such as “release our detained brothers!” Score of protestors also wore Kifaya (‘Enough’) stickers as well as others reading “Long live justice!”
Living the events vicariously through news reports as well as other bloggers’ accounts, it seems that there is a continued socio-political upheaval gaining momentum in Egypt. Protestors are obviously not stopping as they have seen the international media attention they’ve gained as well as the criticism the NDP party has received from Western governments. At this point, the movements are not large enough to offer a ‘coup d’etat’ since these new movements have not yet been able to mobilize the masses. As I’ve argued in my previous post, “Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum: Nour, El-Bastawisi and Mekki,” a la the 1950s, the country needs a revolution which would introduce a completely new beginning to Egyptian society replete with new democratic reforms and new secular government.
This is merely in theory as a revolution will not come to fruition unless change is also buttressed from above. The apathy of the upper class and those of power has only regressed any chances of metamorphosis. Moreover, Egypt is a country which has witnessed change progressively and should continue to witness change in such a manner. Any abrupt efforts in attempting to change will backfire immediately. The MB might gain further leverage and attempt to hastily exploit the religiosity among the people and introduce a non-secular, religious, oppressive and a ‘strict Sharia-based’ social arena which would further regress the future of the country.
As of now, it is a sad reality that Egyptian citizens are seeking Western support as well as the West’s condemnation of the NDP in order to instigate change within their own borders. Unfortunately as I’ve argued before, America is not Egypt’s savior as (like many of its other alliances) it has its own agenda and its targets and holding hands with Egypt along the way is not in its interest per se (refer to the previous posts and comments).
There is no doubt of the delicacy of the situation. If the NDP seeks to avoid any further trouble, they need to start listening to their own citizens and slowly implement changes which should be (in their eyes) purely altruistic for the country and for the proceeding governments to inherit – unfortunately this seems completely out of reach at this point.
This has been the fourth consecutive week of protesting despite statements from the Ministry of Interior that these demonstrations are ‘illegal’ and will not be tolerated. This has not halted the zealous Kefaya, Ghad and Muslim Brotherhood members which have sprawled to the streets along with about 300 pro-reform judges to fuel their anger over:
1) The state’s refusal to release hundreds of innocent demonstrators who have been taken in to custody over the last few weeks.
2) The state’s refusal to release Ayman Nour or at least reconsider his case. Nour has been sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly ‘forging’ documents to establish his Ghad party.
3) The NDP’s refusal to separate the judiciary from the state and granting it its own independence.
4) The NDP’s hindering efforts for reform, their inhuman methods of protecting themselves from anything that would jeopardize their power and disallowing ‘true’ democratic principles to start fueling society as well as any freedom of speech.
5) Hosni Mubarak; who (in their eyes) has betrayed the country, fooled the people and brought Egypt backward both economically and socially.
The Egyptian pro-reform judges stood in front of the Supreme Court house during the anti-government protest chanting anti-government slogans such as “release our detained brothers!” Score of protestors also wore Kifaya (‘Enough’) stickers as well as others reading “Long live justice!”
Living the events vicariously through news reports as well as other bloggers’ accounts, it seems that there is a continued socio-political upheaval gaining momentum in Egypt. Protestors are obviously not stopping as they have seen the international media attention they’ve gained as well as the criticism the NDP party has received from Western governments. At this point, the movements are not large enough to offer a ‘coup d’etat’ since these new movements have not yet been able to mobilize the masses. As I’ve argued in my previous post, “Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum: Nour, El-Bastawisi and Mekki,” a la the 1950s, the country needs a revolution which would introduce a completely new beginning to Egyptian society replete with new democratic reforms and new secular government.
This is merely in theory as a revolution will not come to fruition unless change is also buttressed from above. The apathy of the upper class and those of power has only regressed any chances of metamorphosis. Moreover, Egypt is a country which has witnessed change progressively and should continue to witness change in such a manner. Any abrupt efforts in attempting to change will backfire immediately. The MB might gain further leverage and attempt to hastily exploit the religiosity among the people and introduce a non-secular, religious, oppressive and a ‘strict Sharia-based’ social arena which would further regress the future of the country.
As of now, it is a sad reality that Egyptian citizens are seeking Western support as well as the West’s condemnation of the NDP in order to instigate change within their own borders. Unfortunately as I’ve argued before, America is not Egypt’s savior as (like many of its other alliances) it has its own agenda and its targets and holding hands with Egypt along the way is not in its interest per se (refer to the previous posts and comments).
There is no doubt of the delicacy of the situation. If the NDP seeks to avoid any further trouble, they need to start listening to their own citizens and slowly implement changes which should be (in their eyes) purely altruistic for the country and for the proceeding governments to inherit – unfortunately this seems completely out of reach at this point.
posted by The Egyptian Observer at 3:44 PM
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