“To ignore the street is to ignore moral sensibility at the expense of the wise conduct of politics.” These words penned by Mona Makram-Ebeid in the year 2009 sound prophetic, in light of the recent events. Makram-Ebeid insists that she could see it coming since the situation in Egypt had become “unbearable; the gap between the have and the have-nots had widened and the conditions were reminiscent of those prevailing on the eve of the revolution in the year 1952.”
“It also shows that I have a strategic mind,” says Makram-Ebeid cheekily. That she does and so does she have many other claims to fame -a member of parliament from 1990-1995, advisor to the World Bank for the MENA region, professor of sociology and political science at the American University of Cairo and an activist for women’s rights and human rights are just some of those. More recently, she was part of a group of women that was invited to meet with the Prime Minister, Mr Essam Sharaf to offer suggestions and insights on the current situation.
However, what epitomises Makram-Ebeid is her fearlessness in speaking her mind, which has, on occasions got her into trouble. Like the three times when her candidature for ministerial posts was cancelled or the time when her stint in Parliament came to an abrupt halt. “I was considered to be too independent minded and as one who could not take orders,” says Makram-Ebeid.
Her foray into politics can be considered to be a natural progression; she is the granddaughter of the illustrious Makram Ebeid Pasha, who was a leading figure of the struggle against the British mandate, in the year 1919. As a child, she loved sitting at his feet and hear him recount his experiences in exile. “My grandfather would always say of me ‘the girl has personality’,” she recalls fondly.
Community Times speaks to Mona Makram Ebeid on a range of issues afflicting the nation, at this point of time, and Makram-Ebeid offers her opinion in her trademark fearless and outspoken manner.
Building Blocks of Democracy
Even though it looks that the hardest part has been accomplished with Mubarak’s departure, but the real challenges lie ahead. Amending the constitution and holding elections are only part of the story. Makram-Ebeid agrees that this is the most difficult phase and says that the need of the hour is to build and strengthen institutions so that individual rights can be protected; as well as to build credible alternative opposition forces to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB).
The Threat of a Theocratic State
Elaborating on the power enjoyed by the MB, Makram-Ebeid attributes it, in part; to the fact that they have been the only organised political force opposing the regime. “Standing against the dictatorship gave them a certain mystique. The idea is not to oppose them as a party; on the contrary, the great mistake of the former regime was to isolate them from the political arena through harassment and arrests, which increased the sympathy towards them. Today the challenge is to incorporate them in the formal political arena, and with time they will become just another political actor, assuming that time allows for the development of a range of other credible alternatives.”
Minority Rights
The 25th January Revolution saw all Egyptians; irrespective of gender, religion or social status participate with equal fervour to achieve the goals of the revolution. Yet, the women and Coptic Christians are at risk of being marginalised in the decision making process. Their representation in the Parliament, over the last few decades, has been woefully low.
Quotas and reservation for minority groups are used by governments all over the world to ensure their participation in mainstream politics. Makram-Ebeid rejects such reservation as ‘demeaning’ and advocates electoral reforms that will make it mandatory for every political party to follow the system of proportional representation electoral lists and to ensure that women, Coptic and youth are included in the candidates that they field. A level playing field will promote the principles of equal citizenship, instead of dividing people on the basis of gender and religion.
She has great hopes pinned on the new generation of Copts; she hopes that they will participate in force in the upcoming elections by joining the new or the older parties, in greater numbers.
She also suggests having a mixed proportional representative system that will allow independent candidates, who do not subscribe to the ideology of any of the parties, to contest elections.
Sectarian Violence: Danger of Losing the Bigger Picture
The days leading up to the referendum on amendments to the constitution split Egypt’s political scene, with Islamists urging people to vote ‘yes’ and the secular forces urging them to reject the amendments. The period also saw an increase in sectarian violence, which resulted in several deaths and injuries.
Makram-Ebeid was witness to the Muslims and Coptic solidarity at Tahrir Square during the 18 days of the 25th January Revolution. She, herself was, urged to take the podium on two occasions and to address the protestors. She recalls the time when a Christian priest conducted a mass in the Coptic language at Tahrir Square and the Muslim audience responded with an “Amen” at the end of it. The escalating sectarian violence angers her after such “magnificent and beautiful’ episodes of unity and she attributes the sectarian divide to “outside forces.” But she is quick to clarify that she does not mean the foreign forces, but forces outside of Tahrir, like “the thugs and the remnants of the NDP, who are trying to provoke chaos.”
She is proud of the fact that the Copts are coming out of the shadow of the church and demanding their rights in front of a government institution; “For the first time, young Copts act as Egyptian citizens, not as Egyptian Christians”.
She is referring to the recent demonstrations by the Copts in front of the state television building, Maesparo, denouncing sectarian violence and demanding the rebuilding of a church burned down earlier. “The old formula was that the decision was between Mubarak and the Pope; today that formula is dead and the young Copts are taking the initiative.”
Makram –Ebeid feels that the “The road map today should include the joining of the ‘liberal’ opposition with moderate Muslims, [there is a need] to have Muslims, alternate Muslims, who don’t want to see a repeat of the Iranian model. Egyptian democracy cannot work until Muslim religious and secular groups, who both care about freedom (excluding the MB), develop the ability to refrain from fighting with one another and organise themselves as credible alternatives.”
In fact, as one of the suggestions made to the Prime Minister Mr Sharaf, she has asked that attacks against religion and places of worship be regarded as a criminal offence.
Deconstructing the ‘Yes’ Vote
What does the ‘Yes’ vote on the referendum mean? This is a question on the minds of all Egyptians. Explaining the ‘yes’ vote, Makram-Ebeid says that this means that the MB who wanted to have early elections, before the opposition forces have a chance to organise themselves, have won the first round. “Now they will try and are already trying to form a coalition with the different opposition groups to compel the military to accept civilian control this year.”
“Following the referendum, it is clear that, now, there are three forces competing for control over Egypt-the army, the MB and the various opposition forces. [This situation is] reminiscent of old times, when before the 1952 revolution, there was also the monarchy, the British and the Wafd Party. Like in old times, the outcome depends on which two of these forces will work together and defeat the third. Will it be the two civilian actors, meaning the MB and the people, together, defeating the military? [In that case,], the MB, being the more organised and more powerful force, will gain enough power creating a religious dictatorship that sets back Egyptian democracy and all the gains of the 25th of January Revolution. ..........or a different outcome could be possible. If the military and the people (meaning the opposition forces) understand that the MB is their common and most dangerous enemy. Whoever stands alone will eventually lose.”
Moving Forward
Sequencing is essential to ensuring a smooth transition to a functioning democracy but the ‘yes’ vote on the referendum means that Egypt does not have the luxury of time on its side.
“Ideally, I would have preferred that both the parliamentary and presidential elections take place after one year,’ reveals Makram-Ebeid, as it would give the youth a chance to organise themselves into political parties and the conservative and the established parties could use the time to restructure. “The increased time span would also give the chance to have a wider debate on the constitution, to get a consensus in order to achieve a social contract.”
She does not share the fear in some quarters that if the elections are delayed, the army may never leave and there may be a repeat of what happened in the year 1952.
But the reduced timeline means that the nascent and the fledgling political groups will have to move faster to mobilise and reach out to the people, to create awareness and educate them on what constitutes a civil society.
Makram-Ebeid is optimistic and feels that the young protestors, who were so successful at Tahrir, will be able to rise to the occasion and organise themselves into credible and effective political groups in the four months leading to the parliamentary elections.
Youth Capital
“I had never expected that the youth would be the trigger for the 25th January revolution,” says Makram-Ebeid. She is highly appreciative of the political savvy that the youth have displayed, despite their lack of political experience and feels privileged to have been invited by them to join the “Council of the Trustees of the Revolution.” She loves interacting with the youth; “I love to listen to them because perhaps they have ideas that does not cross our minds. We have been much too theoretical all these years, we have said what we said, but we have never executed it.”
The time for words is passé; it is now time for action. Egypt has the potential to become the region’s model of democracy. The challenge will be not to fritter away that opportunity.
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