Two Egyptians – one a media superstar, the other a seasoned
diplomat – believe their country is trending towards disaster.
Egyptian media superstar and talk show host Imad Adeeb, writing
for the leading Saudi daily Asharq Alawsat, gives his reasons as follows:
This time, the rules of play in Egypt will be totally different
than in the past.
This time, the president is duly elected, civilian and
legitimate.
This time, if the army is called upon, it will answer the call
only if it receives written guarantees that it won’t be ordered back to
barracks.
This time, police won’t have rules of engagement and police
chiefs don’t wish to stand trial again for killing protesters.
This time, not all the “street” is against the regime. There is
a sharp divide between a street of loyalist demonstrators and a street of
opposition protesters.
This time, political funding from abroad is a sign of frightening
external links.
This time, there are 15 million firearms smuggled in from Libya
and Sudan. More are turned out by local workshops.
This time, the stockpiling of firearms by numerous political
groups is mushrooming.
This time, the Copts genuinely fear for their personal safety.
This time, there is a lack of interest among the protagonists in
dialogue, negotiation or a settlement.
This time, the Judiciary is not an independent branch of power.
It is party to the dispute.
This time, the president feels through his inner circle that
many forces target him. He thus senses a conspiratorial and menacing
atmosphere.
This time, the youths won’t hurl stones in the streets, but
Molotov cocktails instead. They might even resort to primitive or automatic
firearms.
This time, the famished, the paupers and the slum dwellers will
come out, not to protest in Tahrir Square, but to appropriate anything or
everything on Egyptian soil.
This time, American or regional intervention won’t ward off the
disaster.
This time, only prayer will help.
Talking anonymously, the seasoned
diplomat tells political analyst Sarkis Naoum, writing for the independent Beirut
daily an-Nahar:
1. Egypt has a
president, but he is inexperienced.
2. Egypt has
innumerable problems that need to be addressed. They include the remnants of
the Mubarak regime’s now-defunct National Party. They are the enforcers the
party created and used before mutating into a quasi-independent force-for-hire.
3. Egypt has
tens of millions of its citizens living either on the poverty threshold or
under the poverty line.
4. Egypt has
Islamists, chiefly Muslim Brothers, and Salafists.
5. Egypt is in
transition. Apart from issues like Sharia jurisprudence and religion being the
sole source for legislation, Arabs outside Egypt know little about Egypt’s
constitutional impasse. What they don’t know is alarming, such as reducing the
marriageable age for girls down to nine years.
6. The problem
of sexual harassment on Egyptian streets is getting out of control. Females
wearing a headscarf, veil or full hijab are being targeted now.
7. President
Mohamed Morsi got rid of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and its
tutelage. Who gave him internal or external cover for the move, the United
States?
8. Morsi sent
troops to Sinai to confront extremist Jihadists and Salafis after they attacked
Egyptian security forces there. Israel helped him secure Sinai with
intelligence aid, but he never said so publicly.
9. Did the
election of Muslim Brother Morsi give the nod to the entire Muslim Brotherhood
to rule Egypt, its people and its resources?
10. Whether
Morsi reached the helm alone or with all the Muslim Brothers, they have to
address Egypt’s problems and build the state, its economy, its security and its
tourism, considering that tourism without “sex” does not exist in the world.
They have to tackle the problems of terrorists, Salafists, democrats and thugs.
