2014-Interview with Nada Ihab – January 25, 2014

1- In your opinion, which are the 3 most important preconditions necessary for a democracy to peacefully be put in place in a post-conflict state?

 

KH – In my opinion, the priority list should include –in this order—the following:

1. Total (100%) literacy to the voting strata in Egypt, without exception, even if we have to remove all illiterate voters from the voting process for twelve years, during which (the 12 years) a gigantic national literacy program will have been applied to include 100% of the voting strata without exclusion.

 

1. At least 85% of the voting power should enjoy an agreed-upon minimum wage. This wage should be calculated on the basis of sufficiency to basic needs, with the hope and assumption that with such a percentage, all election corruption would be insignificant on the final results of polls/elections. 

 

1. The total (100%) abolition of any possibility for parties to be established on religious basis. All political parties must be declared and announced to refrain from any religious links, ideology or affiliation (this includes rigorous investigation on all funding). This pre-requisite is compulsory for transparency and to ensure that the voter is guided to vote exclusively on what is offered by the elected candidate only on the political ideology, social and economic plan fronts.

 

2. Does Egypt meet these preconditions today? If not, in your opinion, what reforms would be necessary for Egypt to meet them?

 

KH – None of these pre-requisites are anywhere close to ideal, or even close to having any sort of sustainable democracy. On the economic level, we do not have any sustainable economy, or any sustainable reform program of national scale. Most of the international development projects working on Egypt, are not of quality nor of sustainability, especially projects aiming to enhance democracy initiatives: many of those projects in fact did enhance corruption and they just proved a total flop for over forty years. 

What I think must happen, in my opinion, is a national scale project aimed at eradicating illiteracy, and another directed to dramatically improve health care, and a third to work on a minimum wage project that would lead –one day—to free/independent votes.

3. Do you believe that the Egyptian people can, in the near future, comply to and understand these preconditions and what the West calls “democracy” today? 

 

KH – Not with this level of illiteracy, and with such poverty percentage. To answer your question directly, and as someone who worked on corporate and development management for around a decade, I think we need at least twelve years to see any results, if we work real hard as of 2014. What we absolutely need now is for the Egyptian population to believe in their national institutions, to regain the safety and security felt in the Egyptian streets for centuries –a state that has been compromised since 2011 with the collapse of the police force. We need to reflect the image of a state that possesses a firm structure, an image that would encourage local capital and foreign investment to collaborate for sustainable economy. China and Federal Russia are not the most striking examples of “Western Democracy”, but they do reflect the image of a state that is solid and strong, and this encourages international investments and sustainable economy.

 

3. Today, democracy has evolved from its initial Greek theoretical meaning, and is mainly considered as “representative democracy” in most of the developed world. Do you agree with this mutated meaning of democracy, and should that be the aim of Egypt today? (And also most countries that have witnessed the Arab spring)

 

KH – Not at all. Western Democracy is one model of doing things, and it is not the ultimate model. Sometimes you have superb social models like Scandinavia (Sweden and Denmark in particular), and efficient models like France and Germany, but you also have the American model of democracy, which is absolute corporate economy that is –to me—identical to “buying votes” or “blackmailing votes”. You also have the China model, which is not democratic but is the ultimate efficiency in global economy and production, and you have the Swiss and Canadian Models that are a fusion of everything. The worst is the American, as it is a unique model in which politicians are manipulated to serve corporate interests.

 

4. What form of state and government will Egypt be facing in the next few years? (Let’s say during the next 15-20 years)

KH – I do not know, but I would not mind a unique model of “dictatorship of the educated”, till the illiteracy, health care and minimum wage programs are installed and are successful as judged by international measures. We will have a transition period during which the military establishment will have a great role in re-instating the street security/safety, fighting armed organised crime, and working on organised terror. I encourage that, personally, and I am aware of the drawbacks of the military presence in civil life. I think the role of the military establishment will be novel, and not any close like the role assumed with the military coup/revolution of 1952, nor during their long role in the first republic (1954-2011).

 

5. Putting aside all of the existing literature on revolutionary theory, seeing the circumstances of the world we live in today (communication and technologically wise for instance), can we try to predict what Egypt will face now by basing ourselves on the American and French revolutions? 

KH – Not at all, not even close; we cannot even mention any collective uprising to any movement prior to the industrial revolution. With the invention of computer, nothing in the world today could be compared to anything that has happened prior to the twentieth century.

 

If not, in your opinion, why has there been a lot of pressure from the West since the Arab spring for Middle Eastern and North African States to follow the footsteps of these eras?

KH – Let me tell you that there is not such thing as “the West”. There are American interests, European interests, and “others” interests (like Russia and China and Iran, among others). Every interested party has different interests. Some interests are obvious, if you know that in today’s international political economy, there is a hegemony that some parties want to replace; there is a theory of Neo-Mercantilism applied by parties at the expense of smaller nations (opening markets and defending them by military force). There are oil and gas, power, markets, intelligence, water resources, cheaper manpower, and you can count till next year. In the case of Egypt, I can think of a few reasons:

1. Several parties want Egypt as a following country rather than a leading country. 
2. Several parties do not want the Egyptian army in any formula, as it is the ONLY left army in the 22 Arab states, the ONLY one in Africa, etc.
3. Several parties need the largest population (90 million) divided: with many little countries –or even a federal state– you can make all factions followers
4. Several parties do not want a leader like Nasser again, as such figure can freeze many plans for those interested parties on the national, regional, African and the international levels.
5. With a Muslim Brotherhood regime in the largest country in the region, Several “Western” parties can throw away their burden of younger immigrant terrorists and dispatch those families to the newly formed “pseudo-Islamic” territories, as Egypt then will be the model to similar neighbouring states. The Egyptian army with the ousting of this terrorist regime (the MB) did block all those plans for those “interested “parties.
6. You can count till next year☺

6. In your opinion, which are the 2 new specifications found in the Egyptian revolution in comparison with the American and European revolutions since the XVIIIth century? 

KH – Every collective uprising came about to abolish oppression, to look for a better life, freedom and come out of slavery (in modern times, slavery manifests in the form of being a follower, so as to attain just the basic needs for survival). I think the only other commonality is the total confusion around the making of a constitution. Otherwise, post-information-technology revolutions CANNOT be compared to anything prior to the twentieth century.

 

Will these have certain consequences on the future of peace in Egypt?

KH – I do not think so. I believe Egypt today sets a model to the state that lived a revolution or two, an uprising or two, all in three years, and it refused to be divided or split, despite all efforts exerted by international interested parties to hack the reform done by the Egyptian army and the secular/liberal forces. The vast majority of the Egyptian population does not think of this ousting as a coup-d’état (though many political activists do, others don’t). I think what will come next will be new, and will defy all previously written literature.