A Leader Worth Mourning: Samer Soliman (1968-2012)

As we prepare for Christmas, we celebrate a season of illumination, yet we also mourn many tragedies across the globe. This is appropriate, as Christmas is a time of endings as well as beginnings, and more subtly perhaps, it is also a continuation. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. It therefore represents an end as well as a beginning. The birth of Christ, over two thousand years ago represented the beginning of a new world religion, a continuation of revered Abrahamic beliefs, as well as the incorporation of ancient pagan, animist, and pharaonic traditions.

On this day, as we prepare for the 2013th celebration of the prophet whom we call Christ, I want to celebrate the life of one of the most influential politicians, activists, and scholars I have ever met: Dr. Samer Soliman. As I mourn his leaving this planet earth, I also am mourning the passage of a an ill-thought out, undemocratic constitution by the people of Egypt. I pray earnestly for the continuation of the Egyptian democratic opposition on this holy night. I ask all the people of Egypt, and of the world, to keep working to ensure that the promise of the Egyptian Revolution is fulfilled.

Samer would have wanted me to feel all of these feelings. Samer died after a battle with terminal cancer at the age of 44.  He was a Coptic Christian, who was nonetheless a fundamentally secular person. He was a journalist, and a brilliant scholar who wrote The Autumn of Dictatorship: Fiscal Crisis and Political Change in Egypt under Mubarak. He was a Professor of Political Economy at the American University in Cairo, and a founding member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party. Ahram Online bids writer, activist Samer Soliman farewell.

Yet these dry facts, as impressive as they are, do not do justice to Samer's life. I do not have space to eulogize his life as a devoted spouse and family man to his beautiful wife Mary Shenoda. Nor is there room to discuss his stature as a professor at the American University in Cairo. Rather, I will focus on his work as an activist and a politician, since Egypt is facing a political crisis larger than perhaps any since the January 25th revolution itself. Farewell Samer Soliman (Egypt Independent)

Samer had a vision for the new Egypt.  Samer came from a political family, reared in Egypt's long tradition of secularism, which made Cairo the jewel of North Africa in the 1950s and early 1960s. He drew on these resources when he helped found the Social Democratic Party of Egypt shortly after the January 25th Revolution. I arrived in Cairo on January 25th, 2011, the first day of the revolution. While I tried to understand what was going on in my new home, Samer was on the barricades with students, farmers and workers, fighting valiantly to usher Egypt into a new era of democracy and human rights. He had long been involved in Egypt's historically strong labor movement. He reached out to the European social democratic parties, forged in Europe's struggle for democracy and labor rights in the 1920s, and revived after World War II in the 1950s.

Although Western news sources tend to focus on the Muslim Brotherhood, the Social Democratic Party, one of the few genuinely new post-revolutionary parties to emerge in Egypt, has made a huge mark in this time frame. In coalition with the Free Egyptians and Tagamoo, the SDP formed the Egyptian Bloc ("Kotla). In the new (now dissolved) parliament, the Bloc made an impressive showing for such a new party, winning 7 percent of the available seats. The Kotla became one of the top five parties, and the major party representing women, secularists, democrats, Nubians, bedouins, Copts, human rights advocates, and so many other underrepresented yet crucial segments of Egyptian society.

Inspired by Samer and the SDP, I decided that I needed to document the emergence of Egypt's emerging opposition. I spent countless hours speaking to Samer and other SDP members learning about this new political forces.  Samer spoke to my leadership class on the budget challenges facing the new Egyptian government. He kept the fire burning bright that Egypt could be a democratic country that had room for all constituents, and all citizens. He championed human rights, civil rights, democracy, and social justice.

What would Samer think of the recent constitutional referendum? He would be dissappointed, I am sure, perhaps even frustrated and angry, but he would tell us not to give up. Samer received his doctorate in political science from the prestigious Science Po in Paris, France. As an intellectual and a scholar, he would remind us that the French Revolution spanned decades. He would tell us that like our French compatriots centuries before, we must keep moving forward, clear in our objectives, inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment.

I like to think that he would be cheered that the April 6 Movement is planning a march on the presidential palace to oppose this constitution that does not truly represent the Egyptian people. He would applaud the fact that after nearly a year of disunity, the Egyptian opposition has finally been galvanized. Indeed, the National Salvation Front, composed of the Constitution Party, Wafd, the Social Democratic Party, the popular current party, and the National Association for Change have stated that they will run for parliament on one list.

I believe that tonight, Samer looks down on us from Heaven. I pray that we remember the message of his life, and all take steps to ensure that his vision becomes a reality. I pray that the Egyptian opposition seizes the moment to unite, and move the revolution, and Egypt's democracy forward.

Merry Christmas Samer. Egypt has lost a great leader, a lion of a man. Like the Lion of Judah, we hear your call. May we reach the mountaintop that you pointed us toward. May the peace of Christ be with you, always.

Your comrade in arms, Warigia

AUC Faculty Experts Dissect Election Results

Reposted from AUC Egypt Daily email newsletter

News at AUC December 7, 2011

In the first round of Egypt’s post-revolution parliamentary elections, which were held in nine governorates including Cairo and Alexandria, Islamist parties won 65 percent of all votes cast for parties, with the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party winning 36.62 percent, followed by Al-Nur Party of the hardline Salafis with 24.36 percent and Al-Wasat Party with 4.27 percent. Meanwhile, the liberalist secular alliance, the Egyptian Bloc, secured 13.35 percent of the votes, and the New Wafd Party got 7 percent.

“The coming struggle will most likely be between the Democrats and Islamic fundamentalism,” said Ezzedine Fishere, distinguished lecturer of political science. “That might be a more difficult and protracted struggle, and will have an uncertain outcome. But it will be, I believe, the last political obstacle standing between us Egyptians and a liberal democracy.”

Results in the first round of elections have raised complex questions about Egypt’s future and where it is heading in this new political landscape – one in which Islamists seem to be the dominant force in the country’s transition from military rule. “The scene in Egypt may lead Egyptians to shortly replace police dictatorship with a theocratic dictatorship,” said Said Sadek, a faculty member in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Egyptology. “The task after the elections is immense, especially for the Egyptian economy. A Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi government would further plunge the economy to an abyss. People will rise up in a new revolution against them but after more political and economic disasters would have befallen the Egyptian economy, society, women, religious minorities and human rights.” 

Samer Soliman, assistant professor of political science, expressed a different viewpoint. “The Muslim Brotherhood today is different than that of a decade ago; it has developed and matured,” he said. “Despite some violations, the Muslim Brotherhood worked hard and has a strong base among people; therefore, the results are logical. The liberalists should now organize themselves and work harder to secure a similar popular base among the people.”

Soliman was quick to point out, however, that the “Muslim Brotherhood now has the right to help in the formation of government, but it will never have the right to infringe on human rights.”

While some chose to boycott the elections in light of the recent violence in Tahrir, Khaled Fahmy, chair of the history department, feels the elections were vital. “With these elections, Egypt passed a huge step toward democracy,” he said. “Even though I am against the boycott, I understand and respect those who were calling for it. I do believe, however, that participating in elections is one way, among many, including continuing the Tahrir sit-in, to force the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) out of the picture.”

Nevertheless, Fahmy is discontent with the run-up to the elections. “The law governing elections is a disastrous one that combines the worst features of the single-candidate district model with the worst features of the proportional representation model,” Fahmy explained, adding that “SCAF’s cavalier policies confused both voters and candidates and effectively dissipated the efforts of the new parties, as well as the more established ones, and distracted them to side issues instead of giving them the opportunity to reach out to voters, sharpen their messages, present credible electoral programs and build grassroots organizations with their constituencies. I strongly believe that the Egyptian people deserve a much better elections law than this one, and that after the January 25 Revolution, we were entitled to a much better, more substantial election campaign than what we witnessed.”

With the second and third round of elections looming ahead, as well as the drafting of a new constitution for the country and the 2012 presidential elections, Fishere predicts that Egypt will be witnessing an intense struggle between the Islamists, the military and the liberals. “This election has revealed the relative strength of the different forces in society, and the Islamists now feel more confident,” he said. “Egyptian Democrats who focused their energies on resisting the rule of the military will now have to fight on two fronts.”

Governance, Accountability and Stakeholders in Egypt

This semester I am teaching a class at the American University in Cairo called "Governance, Accountability, and Stakeholder Negotiation. It is a masters level class in public policy. It is a lot of fun, and we have been doing a lot of reading on how to improve governance in the Middle East and Africa. For example, we have read the Ibrahim Index as well as the World Bank MENA governance News and Notes.

This week, we were very lucky to have a special guest. Dr. Samer Soliman came and spoke to our class. He is the author of an important book just published by Stanford University Press. The book is titled The Autumn of Dictatorship: Fiscal Crisis and Political Change Under Mubarak.  In this book, Dr. Soliman evaluates the Egyptian budget to get lessons about allocation patterns, and the character of the authoritarian Egyptian state.

Here are some of his comments (paraphrased) on governance and accountability.

Accountability

The main issue of the Army is the budget. The second issue is that the Army has an economic empire. The military empire is off budget. If you examine the details of the Egyptian budget, you will not see it, but the evidence is all around us. One concern for the transition is that the Egyptian military is trying to prevent the new president from having power over the budget. 

It will likely take a while to move the military to its proper place in society. In Spain, the transition to democracy took 15 years. Currently in Egypt, we are operating under an interim constitution. At the moment, there is no article in the constitution that has a popular monitoring of the budget.  

We need an army, and we need a state. There has actually been a long term weakening of the Army since Sadat. The Nasser regime was really a military regime. This is less true today. In Iraq under Saddam, there was no distance at all between the regime and the state. This is also true of Syria today. In Egypt, there is some distance. The military is not divided along sectarian lines, like the Syrian military. It is important to get the military budget into the state budget. Right now, there is a lack of civilian control of the budget. 

Taxation plays an important role in accountability. Taxation in Egypt is currently corrupt and inefficient. Democracy facilitates the task of taxation because it enhances popular legitimacy. We also need progressive taxation. 


Stakeholders


With regard to stakeholders under the Mubarak Regime, there were no real political parties. There were just pressure groups. The opposition parties had no chance to rule. New political parties are emerging. In the future, we will have real political parties in Egypt. Syndicates will be much more important. There was no real syndicate life under the old regime. The syndicates can play an important role as an instrument of bargaining and problem solving. Many social groups in Egypt do not have real power. The Egyptian diaspora is important. Civil society will be more important in the new period. The SCAF is pushing the diaspora aside because they are dangerous. They are a huge asset in terms of their money, their knowledge, and their connections. 


Elections

It is not correct that the SCAF will be appointing all 100 members of the task force to write the constitution. Rather, they will set the criteria of how people for the task force are selected. The parliamentary elections will be in November. Then, there will hopefully be presidential elections, although it is vague. The constitution should be drafted within 6 months after the presidential elections. There is no guarantee that the constitutional drafting will be finished in the transition period. 


Egyptian Social Democratic Party

The party I belong to is the SDP. It is objectively, the best party in Egypt, and you should join it. {laughter}. We respect the market economy, but we also believe in a welfare state, and we support social justice. Our party is based on the assumption that economic development needs to create opportunities for the poor, but still be based on the market. We want to give people the instruments and means to defend their rights. It is creative conciliation between the market, and social democracy. 

The plot thickens

Egyptian politics gets more and more dramatic. On Sunday, the SCAF approved new amendments to the elections law. As a result, two thirds of constituencies will be allocated according to the list-based system, and one third according to the single-winner system. Further, the SCAF has reduced the number of seats in the People's Assembly from 508 to 498.

As a colleague explained to me yesterday, having one third single-winner system makes electoral districts bigger. So, if 1/2 of the candidates are under a single-winner system, then the 80 million people of Egypt will elect 249 members of the People's Assembly via a list, and 249 via single-member districts. If 1/3 of the candidates are under a single-winner system, then the 80 million people of Egypt will elect 166 people as individual candidates. That means that the electoral districts will be divided among 166 candidates. The electoral districts will be larger, which will favor established, wealthy, well-known candidates, (NDP and MB) and disadvantage candidates from new parties.

Further, this mysterious workers and farmers requirement was explained to me. To be named a "worker" or a "farmer" you have to get a certificate which acknowledges you as such from the Egyptian government. This is essentially a back door way of favoring local notables, people like the sherif, or omda, or people from wealthy families.

My colleague is Samer Soliman, of the Social Democratic Party of Egypt. 

Egyptian Social Democratic Party

According to Al Masry Al Youm today, "Under Mubarak, all candidates ran as individuals in an electoral system which critics argued ensured solid majorities for the NDP." (Ahmed Zaki Osman, "Military seeking to hamstring parliament through elections law amendments," Al Masry Al Youm, September 27, 2011) Thus, the list based system is a partial victory for new parties.

Around eight political parties established by members of the former regime have been granted legal status.

Follow Up Interview with Dr. Samer Soliman of SDP

An interview with Dr. Samer Soliman, Professor of Political Science at AUC, which was conducted on Aug 14, 2011 and Aug 16, 2011.

Conducted by Heba Galal. Heba Galal is my masters' student and did very well in my leadership class this summer. She is a budding academic, and a very hard worker. She came up with almost all of these questions herself. I have made some very minor edits to correct the English where it was confusing, but have left almost all of the interview in Heba's voice. I think you will find it very informative. Blogger is torturing me lately, so forgive the formatting issues.

Date August 18, 2011

Me

1. Could you please give me a quick brief about yourself and why do you choose this party in particular to participate in?

Dr. Samer Soliman

I was born in 1968, I graduated from faculty of Political Science in 1986, and I got my master’s degree in 1993, then I travelled to Paris where I got my PhD. I wrote many articles in Shorouk news, Al-Tagamoa, Islam online, El Destor, and El Masry El Youm. I felt with more comfortable while I was writing in Shorouk news, but I did not feel comfortable while I was writing in El-Masry El Youm as they always object writing some specific articles. I’m founder of Egyptian Social Democratic Party and I’m also member of Journalists’ syndicate and also I was a member of popular campaign of change and many campaigns like this. I am a founder of this party which mainly based on the idea of a liberal and leftist and social democracy which means that we take the concept of democracy based on a wide definition. Social democracy can deliver people’s rights and achieve them.

Me

2. What is the main platform of the party and what make it different than other parties? Don't you think that the phrases that used to express the main objectives and principles of the party are very long and the party itself stated that in its formal page in Facebook? Did the party make any change so far?

Dr. Samer Soliman

As I told you previously it is based on a background of a liberal and leftist. The liberal ideas are based on social justice whereas the leftist ideas are based on the economy of the market since we encourage the private sectors, but we did not encourage privatization. Private sectors should work on development and moving toward progress.

The party is trying to reach power through elections and also the parliament. The party can [work with] other parties to reach the power or it can reach the power individually. The main role of the party to [attain] power or argue with the government to reach the power. What do you mean that the principles are so long? I do not know about this announcement, but I guess what is really important is that our actions in the situations, there is no need to memorize them, for instance, we have taken action toward the minimum rate of wages . The party established in March 18 and then it formally announced its principles and formed all of its members at the end of June or in the beginning of July when it reached 5000 member and also [received] the authorization.

Me

3. Although the members of this party started to be active in the media lately still their appearance in media is very weak, do you have any justification for that?

Dr. Samer Soliman

I agree with you that there is a weakness regarding their appearance in the media, but they participate in many talk shows though. Let me tell you that the Freedom and Justice party, for instance, or Muslim Brotherhood had been there for a long time and also Free Egyptians Party has strong funds behind their appearance in media since they can finance their advertisements on TV and also you can add to this the Adel party . All of them have strong financial recourses, but our party has a limited source of funds. I like the image when we are reflecting the source of poverty as it is not good to show that they have so much money. I feel with more honesty when we try to achieve our principles of our party with using so little source of funds. The main goal of the party to help [the] poor and stand beside workers. I guess you noticed our medical campaigns to help people in different districts.

Me

4. Do you have a preference for the order of parliamentary elections, constitution writing, and presidential elections? Is the SCAF foreclosing a parliamentary and PM system by saying we should hold presidential elections? Is the SCAF serious about elections? What is the way out for the SCAF and what do you think of their attempt to have their role written into the constitution in a forceful way?

Dr. Samer Soliman

Our party promoted the elections by party’s list not by individual candidacy, the SCAF tried to satisfy all the sides. We are concerned by what has been taken from decisions by SCAF, but we still are going to participate in elections.

Our first demand was that constitution first. We tried to make our voices reach to SCAF, but [there is nothing we can do]. Writing [the] constitution is a very important step, we should agree on the rules first, so it can be like a fair competition to reach power whether it is civilian or not. The constitution is not supposed to be written by the majority of parliamentary group, but it should be written by [a] founding committee which is going to include different sectors, such as all the parties, social sectors, Al Azhar, The Church, and labor unions.

Well, in our party we do not have someone in particular we recommend, but most of the members tend to elect El Baradei as we have many members in the party who are in the campaign to support El Baradei, but this is not officially announced.

No one knows when the elections will be and I do not think that SCAF is planning to stay in the power for a long period of time and they did not prefer to stay for along in the power as they have another issues, they need to work on. SCAF has another plan that they are probably planning to stay in power until the constitution is written . The SCAF needs some kinds stuff , for instance, Mamdouh Shahin, SCAF's legal adviser needs constitutional articles that are going to be on the behalf of the army and does not give any authorities to the new head of the state to do anything regarding the army. The army has economical empire or in other words the army always tries to maintain its budget confidential and they try to keep its budget independent.

The SCAF needs to participate in writing the constitution to interfere [participate?] in the policies of the country when it is required. The SCAF has some kinds of limits and did not accept some kinds of stuff, for example, he can choose between parliamentary system or presidential system. As parliamentary system has one advantage that it has no president, so he can address the issues that face the country from different aspects whereas presidential system permits SCAF to address the issues that face the country through its president, so it makes the things more obvious to them.

Me

5. July 29 was a Friday of unifying all demands and set all the differences aside. This was the name that all the parties and all the political forces agreed upon it. However, what happened was different as many Islamists and Muslim brotherhood supporters dominated Tahrir square and called for an Islamic state and Sharia law. Do you agree with Sawiris that Islamists hijacked the revolution in El Masry El Youm in Aug 14?

Dr. Samer Soliman

The Islamic groups were marginalized in the last decades as the liberal and leftist groups were highlighted in the media so this was a normal reaction from them. I was not surprised or even shocked. The Islamic groups represent a very great [issue]. The Islamic flows is the strongest power in Egypt but what we have seen in the Tahrir in July 29 cannot be ignored There were almost 600 thousands out of 85 million there in Tahrir which means nothing, but still we should admit that they still there. Their attitude toward democracy is not obvious and their situation toward constitutional principles document still ambiguous.

Me

6. All the people were calling for civilian country during the 25th of Jan, however, what we saw in Friday July 29 that the majority but not all are calling for religious country. This caused me confusion and made me asked you this question "what country you prefer a religious or secular or civilian?" Could you please mention the differences between them?

Dr. Samer Soliman

First let me tell you the main difference between all of them. First, religious country this reminds me by what Muslims Brotherhood called for in 2005 when they launched a program for the party in which religious scientists monitor all the legislations of the country so each law issued by the country should be passed by those scientists which is unelected group. The democratic county should base its legislations form its people which is considered an elected group.

[A] secular country is a country [which] separates the religion from the state, so the article 2 should be excluded. All the religious institutions in Egypt should be separated from the state’s policies. US, for instance, is using politics with religion as long as we separate between religion and country’s polices, so it is considered secular country whereas civilian country achieves the equality among all people and the religious people have no control over the country’s polices.

I think I prefer civilian country, however, I think I tend to choose [a] secular country which is a more [realistic] one and needs more development.

Me

7. The trial of ex-president Mubarak and his two sons and also ex-interior minister Habib Al Adly and six of his deputies was shown live on the Egyptian state television, what do you think of this? Do you think that SCAF is trying to regain its trust from people again or what? What is your response toward investigations with political activists such as Asmaa Mahfouz and Loai Naghti and many activists like this?

Dr. Samer Soliman

First of all the trial of the figureheads of the old regime was revolutionary demand and was one of the demands of the revolution. Absolutely SCAF tried to gain its trust from its people and they try to calm people down and let them take revenge from those people. They tried to silence people by doing this toward many activists, but now everyone can talk and express what he /she thinks freely. No one will be silent now and the media start to encourage people to do so. The SCAF played a dictatorship [dictatorial role] and this is not acceptable at all.

Me

8. After all the parties and political forces announced their suspension of sit-ins at Tahrir square, the military police forcibly removed all the protesters from Tahrir square on Aug 2, which coincided with the trial of ex president Mubarak, what is your comment about that? Are you with or against sit- ins and demonstrations at Tahrir Square? Do you think all the demands of the revolutions have been achieved?

Dr. Samer Soliman

Well, I think dispers[ing] people with force is not acceptable, but I[ supported ending the sit ins ]at Tahrir as the number of people started to be reduced and people started to convert from being strong to be weak. I do not think that all the demands of the revolutions have achieved but I know that revolution is still there and nothing will stop us to go again to Tahrir if we feel that there is something wrong.

Me

9. What do you think of the new reshuffle of the governors and what is your response toward excluding women and Copts?

Dr. Samer Soliman

I think they try to follow the same style of the old regime as most of the candidates are previous Generals in the army and part of the old regime. They try to follow the same steps without any significant criteria.

Me

10. What is your comment of the law of perfidy, law No. 344 of 1952 which is going to be applied to people who corrupted the political life in Egypt, do you think that we are in need for this law in these days?

Dr. Samer Soliman

No I don’t think so, it is not [an] appropriate law which violates [human rights] and there are many articles in this law can be used against anyone whereas this law has been rejected by Al-Tagamoa party and also human rights organizations. The articles of this law are conformed in a way that can harm anyone without a proper reason. Let me give you an example, for instance, there is something called hatred of religions and insult of military forces and many articles which do not make any sense.

Me

Thank you for your time Dr. Samer. I have enjoyed speaking with you

Parliamentary and Presidential Elections in Egypt: Part 1

Several steps lie ahead in order for the current military government in Egypt to turn power over to a civilian government. Among these steps are writing a new constitution, electing a parliament, and electing a new president, or prime Minister. A cautionary note-- The likelihood that Egypt will become a full fledged democracy in a year is fairly low. To use a mathematical term, democracy in Egypt in the immediate term is a low-probability event. Democracy watchers in Egypt would be well-advised to be patient-- very patient.

Indeed, as a point of comparison, Kenya, received its independence in 1963. The first truly competitive multi-party election in Kenya was held in 2002, resulting in the first Kenyan president who was truly freely and fairly elected by the Kenyan people. The next election, 2007, did not go so well, and degenerated into a bloodbath, with nearly 2000 dead, and thousands of internally displaced people. In a heartening development, the Kenyan people passed a progressive new Constitution in a free and fair election in August, 2010, giving succor to those who were worried that Kenya's fledgling democracy would not make it. The 2012 election will be a test of the strength of Kenya's emerging democracy. Forty eight years after Independence, Kenya is not yet a full-fledged democracy, rather, it remains a hybrid regime, with some authoritarian tendencies. That being said, Kenya is one of the freest countries in its vicinity. I provide this example to remind the Egypt observer that this is a long path Egypt has started down. Hopefully, they will attain full democracy in a year. My fingers are crossed that Egypt will be so blessed.

One debate that has raged in Egypt the entire spring has been the timing of elections.The military has committed to holding parliamentary elections, followed by a new constitution, and presidential elections. One problem with this schedule is: 1) it does not provide sufficient time for developing a new constitution, and 2) It seems to foreclose the possibility of a true parliamentary system with a prime minister, in favor of a "strong president" system.

A threat to the emergence of a full democracy in Egypt is the SCAF's reluctance to "renounce its role in managing the affairs of the country during this crucial time in Egypt's history." (Staff, "Egypt's Deputy PM resign amid protests," Al Jazeera, July 12, 2011). Indeed, the military is moving to protect an even expand its authority. Observers had been heartened that several parties had agreed to adopt a "declaration of basic principles," to govern the drafting of the Egyptian Constitution. The thinking was that this declaration would protect a civil state, and reign in the Islamists. (Author interview with Abdel Ghaffr Shokr). However, legal scholars working on the document now suggest that the military might use the declaration to spell out the military's role in the civilian government.

One worrying provision in this declaration of basic principles, is that it could potentially make the defense budget unavailable for public or parliamentary review. (David D. Kirkpatrick, "Egypt Military Aims to Cement Muscular Role in Government," New York Times, July 16, 2011) Given that the defense budget is a huge proportion of Egypt's current budget, this provision could be extremely problematic. (Author interview with Samer Soliman). If the military retains the right to intervene broadly in Egyptian politics, it would limit popular sovereignty, constraining the emerging Egyptian democracy.

Further, I worry about the wisdom of rushing the constitutional process. In general, constitutions take years to write. By sandwiching the constitutional drafting process in between parliamentary elections and presidential elections, the SCAF is de facto limiting the time available to deliberate on the provisions of the constitution. We saw hints of this kind of a rushed process in the military's rush to put the constitutional amendments to a referendum in a matter of weeks. After little public debate, and an accelerated process, the referendum went well enough. But it was then followed by a military decree of over 50 constitutional amendments with no public input whatsoever. This process is not really a process, and is not really a democratic process.

Steps should be put in place to ensure that the parliament has a strong role in the new constitution, both on paper, and in practice. The old parliament under Mubarak, dominated by the state sanctioned National Democratic Party, was little more than a rubber stamp. Indeed, a fact-finding judicial committee recently ruled that Safwat al-Sharif, the former speaker of the Shura, and other parliamentarians masterminded the "Camel Battle" on February 2, 2011, that left several protesters dead. (Staff, Egyptians demand post-revolution changes," Al Jazeera, July 15, 2011)

The conventional wisdom had been that parliamentary elections would be held in September. Nonetheless, this schedule seemed rushed, given that Ramadan ends on August 30th (more or less). In an interview with Abdel Ghaffr Shokr in late June, Shokr explained that given the multiple steps that are required to hold elections, September elections simply were not feasible. This analysis was confirmed when the SCAF said preparations for the vote would begin on September 30th, 2011. (AP, "Arab Spring hardens into Summer of Stalemates," The Washington Post, July 14, 2011). In many ways, this delayed schedule is good news, as it gives more time for civilian, non-Islamist, non-NDP political forces to prepare for the parliamentary vote.

Political Parties in The New Egypt

These represent partial notes taken by me at a conference. The conference was called From Tahrir: Revolution or Democratic Transition? June 4-6, 2011. Oriental Hall, AUC Tahrir Square.

These notes were from a 9:00 a.m. panel on June 5, 2011 called The Future of Political Parties The panel was in both English and Arabic. The speakers were Samer Soliman, the American University in Cairo, Ibrahim El-Hodiaby, activist and researcher, Abdel Ghaffar Shokr, Center for African Studies and activist. The panel was moderated by Nathan Brown, George Washington University.

I did my absolute best to create a verbatim transcription. Any errors are my own. 

Abdel Ghaffr Shokr

The Muslim Brotherhood are financing the party and establishing their Constitution. This is the political wing of a religious movement. 

The problem is the remainder of the political thought. Concerning the future of political parties. The parties law caused more limitations. It said 5000 members. Did not solve the problem of financing. There is a lack of equitable competition if you hide behind the veil of religion, it is not equitable. There is a weakness of the youth of the Revolution in forming structures for themselves.  

Western countries and Gulf countries are pumping a lot of money into Egypt to make Egypt follow their model.

There is a social schism. Everyone is establishing a party to call for their needs. There are new activists. Millions of people want to be activists. Egyptian people want to live with integrity and respect. There is a ferocious kind of conflict to determine the future of Egypt, whether it will be an Islamist country. People are hating authoritarianism. Revolutionaries can lobby to get SCAF to do what they want. This makes the outlook a little optimistic. I believe that Egypt is on its way to democracy.

Dr. Samer Soliman

The challenges facing newly founded democratic parties are many. The Democratic Front party. They are well organized. Tagamoo was there. Before the 25th of January, the NDP was not a party. It was a network of profiteering, and interests and security. 

Post the 23rd of July Revolution [Author's note ?] Parties had the same message. The Opposition was asked to go on opposing for life. If they were accepted, they were just pressure lobbies. This changed after the Revolution. 

We have the old parties. There are 24 old parties. They don't live up to the definition of parties. El Wafd, Nasserites, Political Front. Most of the old parties are without ideological orientation. For example, an ideology of Anti-Nasserism. These parties are characterized by senility and stagnation. 

There are younger parties. New parties, and new faces. In the old parties, money plays an important role. The elite that we are facing. Yesterday, we were meeting with the minister of finance. There should be a law enacted to reduce taxation in our view. He said that there is no single person who is for real estate taxation. [Author's note: there is a lot of uncontrolled real estate speculation in Cairo. It is a real urban planning problem. If you taxed these developments, it would control it somewhat] 

There are real challenges facing the civil based parties. First, there is a lack of social depth. No common goals. Parties are made up of individuals, not social groups. The most dynamic area in society under Mubarak was in religion.  Religion was a very vibrant domain. The federation of labor unions is dying. It was supported by the NDP, but now they are supporting the SCAF. Independent trade unionist leaders are very promising, but not very politically mature.

Second, the One million man march slogans included "we don't want parties." Tagamoo had a platform. Wanted to dismantle parties. Some don't want parties.. Don't want to join or establish an organization. The 6th of April movement was influenced by Serbia.
The youth group will not turn immediately into parties.

The third challenge is the absence of institutions. Now we have the party of Naguib Sawiris. You need to shed light on who the major members are.

Fourth, there is a challenge of the legislative and institutional framework. The SCAF needs to find a new mode of discussion. They met the Coalition of Youth for the Revolution for two hours. The Command structure of the SCAF takes us back to the Nasserite era. They are adopting a semi-authoritarian regime structure [Author's note, where is the semi, I only see authoritarian!]

They want proportional representation. This includes women and non-Muslims. A proportional list is the most suitable solution for Egypt. The SCAF has been running the country for four months, yet no party has been asked to sit down with them. Parliamentarian representation should include half laborers and half farmers. In the past, those seats were given to people who were not really farmers. [Not sure if the word used here was fellaheen?]

The religious schism emanates from the history of Egypt. It is changing rapidly and sharply. I would share the optimism of Ghaffr. There are small sporadic parties. The upcoming Parliament may be fragmented. Representation will be very difficult for the transition period. This Parliament has to draft the Constitution. We need to look forward to the elections of 2016. Hopefully, five or six new parties can actually survive. The public needs to choose its own parties.

The Parliament may only go on for a year. The SCAF says that the Parliament will go on longer. We have heard about a party that has run a lot of advertisements. Now, I disagree with Shokr that some parties have received money from abroad. We have to stop poisoning the political atmosphere without proof.

Do not discriminate against parties without reference. There is total equality between all political parties within {?}

Question and Answer

Q: The Islamic current should mature. But Al Ikhwan says power is not in the hands of the people. Rather itis in the hands of the fatwas and Islamic scholars. Is the Brotherhood feeling excluded? Does this lead to higher demands?

Q: How do we unify parties? 

Q: Will there be a rule against receiving money from a foreign country? 

Q: What is the strategy about local elections?

Answer: Samer Soliman

There is no municipal law nowadays. We do not have a relevant law re managing their administration. One of the pressing demands of the revolution was to elect governors. The condition of collecting the 5000 signatures forced parties to go into rural areas.

Answer: Abdel Ghaffr Shokr

There is a law which punishes those who receive foreign funding. There needs to be a balance in Parliament so we can write the Constitution. There should be leeway for independent candidates.

Answer: Ibrahim El Hodhiaby

One party is worried that the Islamists are growing in numbers. Islamists are moving into new territories. Moving as if expecting new list to fall. We should find some common ground between the Muslim Brotherhood and the civil parties. Let us first find common ground. I believe that there is a difference between the different political parties expectations and their Parliament. The representation of the MB is not going to exceed a certain amount.

Samer Soliman of Egyptian Social Democratic Party: Background and Influences

Interview with Dr. Samer Soliman, June 6, 2011. Interview conducted by Dr. Warigia Bowman, Assistant Professor, American University, School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

Samer Soliman is a Professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo. He is also a founding member, and a member of the facilitating committee of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party. He is currently being encouraged by close advisors to consider a run for the Egyptian Parliament, but has not made up his mind.

W: Where are you from in Egypt?

S: I am from a middle class family. Both of my parents were teachers. I am from a neighborhood called EEbaasir. (sp?) which is a neighborhood near downtown Cairo located near the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral. I attended the Egyptian French School. I did my undergraduate studies in the Faculty of Economics at Cairo University, my masters in Sociology at American University in Cairo, and earned my doctorate in Paris at the Sciences Po.

I grew up in a politicized family. Many people in my family were interested in or engaged in politics. I was raised in a secular family. My family was Christian, but secular. My mother is religious. My father was a communist.

W: Is there a difference in the way which Christians and Muslims view politics in Egypt?

S: They may view politics slightly differently. At the time of the July Regime, in 1952 most people in Egypt were apolitical. Egyptians were encouraged to support parties, but never to participate. Lately, a sectarian spirit is increasing in Egyptian society. I was never raised as a Copt. I was raised as a nationalist, in a secular home, that was somehow leftist.

It was not until university that I began to discover my Christian identity. I fell in love with a Muslim girl. It was leading nowhere. Your options in Egypt, if you are a Christian man are to convert to Islam or to emigrate. The society does not accept for Christian men to marry Muslim women.

Until university, I had never experienced discrimination as a Christian. In time, I understood the intensity of the sectarian issue in Egypt. My mother had told me there is discrimination, but I had not personally experienced it [until the time of my romance] In the army, I understood the sectarian issue. It is a corrupt institution based on wasta. They ask you when you come in, do you have wasta? It was astonishing.

W: Tell me about your experiences in the Army.

S: I served in the Air Force in the early 1990s, 1991/2. The Army, like armies all over the world, is very paternalistic. Discrimination is very strong against the poor and uneducated. More than anything else, upper Egyptians are discriminated against especially. People would make fun of them, tease them, harass them about their accent. [If you are Upper Egyptian and wealthy and have wasta you are okay. ] The worst thing is if you are Upper Egyptian and are also poor.

The Army was a rich experience for me. I got in deep touch with the peasants, uneducated peasants from deep in the Egyptian countryside. [It was an amazing social education.] There is strong solidarity among soldiers with regard to the big monster, the institution of the military. We were not given any deep lessons about national security. The enemy here is Israel. Also, you learned to shoot. . . .

Political Parties are the Frameworks of Democracy: Issues in the Transition to Democracy in Egypt Part 2

Dear readers


These are my notes from the question and answer session of a really amazing lecture I attended at the American University in Cairo, Tahrir Campus. The lecture was held on Tuesday, March 29, 2011. These lectures are part of the Tahrir Dialogue Series were sponsored by the AUC School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. The speakers included Dr. Ibrahim Awad (Director of the Center of Migration and Refugee Services at AUC), Dr. Nevine Mossaad (Institute of Arab Research and Studies Cairo University), Dr. Ibrahim El Issawy (National Planning Institute, People's Alliance Party), Dr. Amr El Shobaky (Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies) and Dr. Samer Soliman (AUC and Social Democratic Party). Simultaneous translation was provided. [] means I am adding in my own summary or interpretation, or pointing to something I may have left out. Any errors in transcription are my own. WMB



Questions from the Audience for Ibrahim

1. Economic Cost of the Revolution

2. We did not have a market economy before. How do we create one?

3. Six point program- how does it affect investment?

4. Nasr/National Project/Arab Israel Conflict



Ibrahim El Issawy



Regarding Economic costs. I make my calculations based on the ministry of finance. $610 million Egyptian Pounds (LE) daily were lost during the revolution. Such losses will continue for two months. The total would be 37 billion LE. This is the equivalent to the national economy over 9 days. This is not a big cost for a revolution that will lead to social justice and human dignity.



Can the economy go back to pre-financial crisis levels? Well, the government reports under Mubarak that Egypt was growing at 7% were not true. I have been saying this for forty years. Maybe the growth rate was at 4%. In terms of what citizens got, maybe it was at 2%. Let us say the economy was grwoing at 4%. We can get back to that. There was a lot of distortion in the economy [under Mubarak] Corruption was beyong our imagination. Liberalization was designed to open our markets to the West to service them. Let's look at the Eastern Tigers. We cannot copy things. We need a new developmental philosophy.



Questions from Audience for Niveen



1. Tripartite political parties?

2. Is the new party going to allow competitiveness?

3. Is there a pact between the Military and the old regime?

4. Are there MB Links with Hamas?



[One strange thing] is that I hardly see any of the faces we saw throughout for 18 days. Opposition is something we need. The Military Council is practicing control of the media. The Military Council is not impartial. I do not think I am going home today {laughter, referring to endangering herself with this statement}. There is a partnership between the Military Council and the Muslim Brotherhood. It is clear. And the major powers who pushed for amendments are NDP. Another proof. Formation of Sayed Mashaal. [Not sure about this].

How can we have constitutional amendments without dialogue? [The military thinks they can take] step 1,2,3, and after that the democratic system will appear. [We tried that in Iraq and it did not work] It is only form, and not content. Everyone is talking about a civil state. Muslim Brotherhood will run for presidency. Now we are in the middle of a competition, but we are not equal. Some parties have had a head start. {Muslim Brotherhood and National Democratic Party}.

Iran’s leadership has a double standard. They supported the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions. They are supporting the revolution in Bahrain. Iran supports Bashar and Hezbollah. Inside and outside. I do not think there is a relationship between Moshed and MB. Not inspired. The Iranian Revolution has a specific meaning.