Clause 76
The Egyptian president surprised everyone last February and said that he would like to see the 76th clause of the Egyptian constitution changed to allow for free multi-candidate presidential electionds in Egypt, starting this September. Ofcourse, when the president wants something done, it will be done. The system so far was for the parliamet to choose a candidate and then the people vote on that candidate in a referendum. Well, needless to say, since the parliament is controled by the ruling party, the people effectivley had no choice, it was simply a yes or not vote.
Are we kidding ourselves? Does anyone actually believe that this will lead to any real change? It will only hide the regime behind a false veil of superficial democratic activity.
What does it mean that Egyptians can vote on the president but not on anyone else? I can vote for the country's absolute ruler, but i cannot vote for my mayor, or governor, or even minor city officials.
Yet, i will give credit when credit is due. The president's move has resulted in alot of healthy debate in the Egyptian press. Previous taboos, such as presidential powers, limitation on presidential terms, even the president's personal wealth, are being openly discussed in the press. The broadcast media is fully under the government's control, so nothing of the such is discussed there.
Anyway, many have said that this move was a result of intense international, mainly US, pressure on Egypt to open up its stale political system. This might be true and if it is then let us have more pressure, since this is sadly the only way that any change can come along. If this is not true and this was a domestically concieved move, then i have to ask, what took so long? Egyptians are not the immature beings that their rulers think they are, yes many are uneducated, many have strong islamist sympathies, but this should not cut off the path to reform. I belive that the frustrations that led to a move towards the shadowy, islamist underground will ease once a legitimate outlet is found for the people's greivances.
Too much reform, too fast can lead to instability, simply because there is, like i said, too much pent up frustration, but this does not mean that reform moves along at a snail's pace either.
Let us wait and see what happens, this is going to be an interesting summer.
Are we kidding ourselves? Does anyone actually believe that this will lead to any real change? It will only hide the regime behind a false veil of superficial democratic activity.
What does it mean that Egyptians can vote on the president but not on anyone else? I can vote for the country's absolute ruler, but i cannot vote for my mayor, or governor, or even minor city officials.
Yet, i will give credit when credit is due. The president's move has resulted in alot of healthy debate in the Egyptian press. Previous taboos, such as presidential powers, limitation on presidential terms, even the president's personal wealth, are being openly discussed in the press. The broadcast media is fully under the government's control, so nothing of the such is discussed there.
Anyway, many have said that this move was a result of intense international, mainly US, pressure on Egypt to open up its stale political system. This might be true and if it is then let us have more pressure, since this is sadly the only way that any change can come along. If this is not true and this was a domestically concieved move, then i have to ask, what took so long? Egyptians are not the immature beings that their rulers think they are, yes many are uneducated, many have strong islamist sympathies, but this should not cut off the path to reform. I belive that the frustrations that led to a move towards the shadowy, islamist underground will ease once a legitimate outlet is found for the people's greivances.
Too much reform, too fast can lead to instability, simply because there is, like i said, too much pent up frustration, but this does not mean that reform moves along at a snail's pace either.
Let us wait and see what happens, this is going to be an interesting summer.
posted by Caliph at 7:51 AM
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