December 08, 2012
The tumultuous road to a stable democratic system
of government in Egypt is passing through one of its most decisive stages these
days, with most of the main political actors revealing their amateurism more than
anything else for the moment. This is a hard but necessary learning process, as
the main protagonists refuse to accept that hardline and absolutist positions
are inappropriate during this delicate transition.
For all the heartening talk about their shared
commitment to democratic pluralism, the dominant Muslim Brotherhood and most of
the other leading Egyptian political groups are demonstrating the problems
arising from a fast transition from autocracy to democracy, without a
transition period in which people and organizations learn how to function in a
democratic system. Personality has much to do with this.
The Muslim Brotherhood leaders who have spent much
of the last 25 years in and out of jail were catapulted into the presidency
without any previous experience in managing national politics. President
Mohammad Morsi is revealing his inability to act as the president of all
Egyptians and the shepherd of a historic constitutional transition in which
basic governance institutions are being built. Unlike Nelson Mandela who spent
decades in jail and then showed his compassion, flexibility and statesmanship
when he became the president of South Africa, Morsi seems focused on pushing
through his agenda (presumably also the Muslim Brotherhood’s) and is unable at
this stage to act as the magnanimous leader of all Egyptians.
He has made five main mistakes so far:
• Unilaterally issuing the constitutional decree in
November that shielded him from all judicial oversight;
• Being two days late in addressing the nation
after mass demonstrations turned into clashes around his presidential
compound;
• Refusing to make any meaningful gestures to those
in significant opposition to his constitutional moves;
• Ramming through the referendum on the draft
constitution in two weeks; and,
• Not working with his colleagues to tone down the
response of Muslim Brotherhood supporters to the anti-Morsi demonstrations.
These would be natural actions for a political
party leader or partisan politician, but coming from a newly elected and
democratically legitimate president of a country in the early stages of a
delicate transition, these are irresponsible, petty and dangerous acts. His
speech to the nation Thursday night was a sad display of his inability to make
the kinds of gestures and concessions that are critical in such a situation of
heightened anger. His call for dialogue and saying that he was open to
discussing and amending some of the disputed items in his unilateral decree
puts him nowhere near where he needs to be to elicit a positive response from
the opposition forces that refuse to speak to him until he rescinds the decree.
There is an obvious middle ground here where Morsi
could have “frozen” his decree, extended the time period in which Egyptians
could debate the draft constitution, and engaged the opposition in serious
discussions on how to achieve the goal he says is his main concern: finalizing
the ratification of a new constitution and completing the process of building
the new governance system, with elected houses of parliament alongside the
presidency and the judiciary. His goal is reasonable and important, but his
manner of going about achieving it is amateurish and brutish.
The opposition is equally disappointing, given
their instant, absolutist demand that Morsi annul his decree and delay and
referendum beyond its schedule December 15 date. The non-violent public
demonstrations the opposition has launched are perfectly acceptable means of
protest, but they represent a segment of Egypt’s population that is probably a
minority. They need to be much more sophisticated and realistic in mobilizing
their supporters and engaging the president in a manner that makes it possible
for him to respond meaningfully. By taking hardline positions, including
simplistic boycotts, they cornered themselves and the president, making it
inevitable that demonstrators on both sides would end up clashing in the
streets.
The process of developing a constitution is unlike
any other political activity, because it requires a genuine national consensus,
rather than the partisan majority that is enough to pass legislation or take
other government action. Morsi has not been able to grasp this point in his
actions, even though he tries to echo it in his rhetoric. Should he wish to
summon the capacity to act magnanimously and wisely, he could easily be seen by
future historians as the father of his new democratic country, and the beacon
for democratic transitions to come across the Arab world.
One way that amateurs become masters of their craft
is through experience, which he does not have in the governance arena. Another
way is the sheer human will to rise above narrow sectarian and ideological
tunnels and lead all Egyptians on their epic national journey. So far, he has
shown no signs of this latter course, which is damaging him personally, his
Muslim Brotherhood colleagues, and all Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood’s journey
directly from jail to the presidency is proving difficult for him, and other
Egyptians are not helping him very much either. Egypt will emerge from this
stronger and wiser, but there will be blood and damage on the way.
Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The
Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and
International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon.
You can follow him @ramikhouri.
Copyright © 2012 Rami G. Khouri -- distributed by
Agence Global