Eye On Egypt Blog

Election Day in Egypt!!!

Cairo, Egypt
November 28, 2011

They said we should delay elections because with all the demonstrations there was bound to be violence. They said that people would stay away from the polls. They said the Islamists would jam things up and no one else would get to vote. The warnings were just as wrong as wrong can be!!!!
 
I SMSed a simple number, with my name and ID #. Within minutes I got a return message with the address of my voting place, my room number and my number on the voters list. I live in Old Cairo which meant I had to go to a school in Fustat—a lower/lower middleclass neighborhood.

Last night it rained so today its roads were covered in slippery mud. Although it was only one district, it looked like the entire country had turned out. The soldiers guarding the entrances were not only friendly, they were well informed
 
There were several hundred women in line at one of the doors to the large complex of different school. I was the only without a headscarf. (Men voted at one school, women in another and there were more the latter than the former!!)

I looked for trouble—there wasn’t a hint of any. To a person, everyone was solicitous—helping me find the right door, walking me to it, offering me a chair although my particular line was only five women deep!
 
The women were quiet. They were serious. They were proud. And I was one of them.

Amal Sedky Winter, PhD
www.myeyeonegypt.net

PS. The demonstrations against military rule continue—participants taking turns leaving Tahrir Square to vote!!!! Way to go, Egypt!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

 

Egypt's Revolution: SCAF's apologies not enough

November 25^th

Physicians, clerics, high school girls in their school uniforms form cordons to separate the army and police from the protesters.

A friend’s photojournalist husband was at an ad hoc meeting where the unschooled men insisted that  they be on the front lines because while they were "dispensable" the country needed to keep educated people safe to lead Egypt into the future.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) called off the tear-gas and bullets yesterday.  SCAF also apologized for the deaths and injuries (taking implicit responsibility), accepted the current government’s resignation and is shopping around for a new prime-minister.

I doubt that will do it.  

Friday’s noon prayers are winding down. Today’s "millioneya" is gathering in the Square.

Amal Sedky Winter PhD
Cairo Egypt
www.myeyeonegypt.net

 

Egyptian revolution: Now what?

Cairo, Egypt
November 22

100000 people are said to have filled Tahrir Square on “Million Man Day.” Whatever the number, it was a lot.  Eventually Field Marshall Tantawi, speaking for Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) gave a speech that sounded to many like the same one Mubarak gave in his first response to protesters in January.

He said “unforeseen forces” were working behind the people to destabilize the nation and that accusations made about their administration were unacceptable.

Many thought his concessions, just like Mubarak’s, were too little, too late.

But it’s not January anymore and the military, though not swept up with visions of democracy, is not Mubarak.

SCAF has now promised:

o      The 28 November elections for parliament will be held as planned
o      Arrested activists will be held and tried in civilian courts rather than military courts.
o      The resignation of the interim cabinet was accepted.

o      The date for the Presidential election will be rescheduled and held before June, rather than much later in the year as they had earlier announced.To withdraw its proposal that SCAF maintain veto power over a future elected government and have advisory status instead.

 

In his televised speech today, Tantawi did not respond to activists demands for his resignation and the people, unsatisfied, have remained in the Square.

Hold everything for a minute

The question is, what should they ask for?

Suppose Tantawi and all of SCAF resigns, then who runs the country while it gets itself organized into some kind of democracy? Without an answer to those questions, all is gesture.

Or maybe it’s another necessary step.  Even thinking of the resignation of Tantawi and SCAF dramatizes institutional for protestors unaccustomed to thinking about managing their government.

And that forces a look into a deeper question: Are people really changing? Are they genuinely outgrowing the dependency that years of authoritarianism has ground into them?

A New Egyptian?

Are Egyptians changing in some profound way?  Has the lifting of the rockslide of an authoritarian government revealed an underlying progressive spirit?

Not very likely, but something is afoot.

Islamists have lost support.  People of all religious and political shades express a gut dislike of the conservative Salfists.  Support for any kind of over-religiosity is becoming fragmented.

Has their rejection of an authoritarian government forced them to rethink all their cultural systems?

Maybe.  I can say that they have shifted their attention from religion – which used to be the major topic of conversation in this country – to politics.  Maybe this temporary, but it’s a shake-up nonetheless.

Maybe I’m taking too much of a cue from the man who drives me around Cairo.

A year ago he was as close to being a Salafist as he could be without actually becoming one. Believe me, I’ve listened to a lot, a very lot of imans’ intoning of God’s will on my car radio.

Now my driver talks politics.  He’s changed from being a supporter of an Islamic party to an advocate of a liberal one.  If he hears a newscaster say something on the radio that he feels is incorrect, he picks and his cell and calls the guy – or gal – and lets them know about their error.

I still can’t quite believe the change.

 

Amal Sedky Winter PhD
Cairo Egypt
www.myeyeonegypt.net

Egyptian revolution: Now for the real thing.

10:30 pm
Cairo Egypt.

It's a real revolution.

• The square is beyond packed.
•  More experienced political leaders are emerging.
• Specific demands are being articulated, e.g. resignation of Field Marshall Tantawi.
• A million man protest has been called for tomorrow.
•  The civilian cabinet just resigned.
•  Rumors are afoot that younger members of the army are leaking information to protestors on how to protect themselves from a new version of tear gas.
• People are being killed left, right and center.
•   Martyrs accumulate.

What can the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) do?  How do you repress this size and this ignited  of a protest if you're not a Gaddifi or an Assad?  If the United States has provided you the arms that you'd have to do it with?

 

Amal SedkyWinter PhD
www.myeyeonegypt.net

 

Egyptians rise again

20 November, 2010
Cairo Egypt

It’s violent out there.  Much worse than when the people were fighting Mubarak. But then everyone was expecting a bloody bash sooner or later.

The people were so proud of their peaceful removal of Mubarak.  They were proud of having an army they felt they could trust.

They gave the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) the benefit of the doubt. They waited.

 And they got Maspero.

When the military turned on peaceful Coptic protestor, the people lost faith.

SCAF’s done nothing but block movement. The old emergency laws are still in place. Government indignities still punctuate daily life. Most of the old regime guys are still in positions of power; only a few of the most publicly reviled have been prosecuted.

How insulting can you be?

I’m inspired by these protestors.  They don’t want dictatorship, military or otherwise;  They don’t want a Islamist state and they’re standing up for themselves.

Dark maneuvers

 One theory is that Islamists set this protest up.

Maybe the scary, radical islamists cut a deal with the Muslim Brotherhood.  After all, the Brotherhood, while moderate in recent years, has a well-known practice of political opportunism. Together they could agree to incite the protest, thus scaring moderate people away from the polls on November 28  and leaving the islamists to win a majority in parliament. 

In another theory, the military allowed the first day of the revolt to go on without their intervention so they could claim the people weren’t ready to rule. 

In either case, the strategies failed.

The square is now filled with people of every persuasion.  They want Field Marshall Tantawi to resign and immediate transfer of power to the people as well as other things that are unrealistic.

That’s what people want.

Amal Sedky Winter, PhD
Cairo, Egypt
www.myeyeonegypt.net

November 20, 2010

Depressed in Egypt: the Coptic demonstration.

Everyone, from cab drivers and street sweepers to doctors and professors is depressed about the disastrous demonstration by the Copts on October 9th in which mostly Christian civilians were shot. The violence against both sides was caused by "unknown forces" still unknown to this day which doesn't say much about military intelligence.

One friend, a Muslim supporting the Coptic demonstration got roughed up. She said trained snipers fired on people from the roofs of buildings. A well-known leader/activist was killed.

Doesn't sound random to me.

Some Christians reactions to the military are surprising. Of course, they are officially and rightfully indignant but privately I have heard some criticize the demonstrators for massing at time of such political tension.

The country is becoming chaotic. Everyone is on strike and there really isn't money to meet their demands for a living wage. The police, many of whom are still in hiding and certainly not back on the streets, are now demonstrating against the minister of interior, el-Essawi, demanding he cleanse the ministry of the previous minister, Habib el Adly, a Mubarak loyalist.

Still, 73% of the population still supports the army. I guess when you haven't any other choice you back the one you have. As one friend said, "The relationship between the Egyptian people and the Army is like a wife and her husband. She knows he's unfaithful but she stays because of the children."

I'm afraid that sums it up.

Amal Sedky Winter, PhD

Revolution in Egypt....Eight months later

Mubarak and his closest cronies are gone, yes.  But for deep change, Egyptian protesters must keep on battering at the interim Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and Prime Minister Sharaf.

Apparently they will have to fight for every square inch, e.g.:

• abolition of the notorious Emergency Laws
• end to the trials of civilian dissenters in military courts
• establishment of election laws that would allow candidates other than members of Mubarak’s technically disbanded political party and the newly legalized Muslim Brotherhood to win seats in the soon-to-be-formed parliament.

 As Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Institution describes the situation:
    The current dynamic – military imposes unpopular policies, protesters protest, military makes     partial concessions, protesters protest partial concessions, and so on – has proven a recipe for            failure, producing a patchwork of ill-conceived laws and half-measures. Often, the military uses the     pretext of “stability” to  sustain old practices, including emergency law, intimidation of the press,         military trials, and even torture.

COMMON OBSTACLES

The liberal secularists who organized the January 25th revolt are up against formidable obstacles:

• The military and the Muslim Brotherhood may be in an unholy alliance -  secretly agreeing that an elected Brotherhood will not challenge the military’s economic corruption.
•  The military traditionally runs Egypt - from behind or right on the throne.  It’s difficult to change a pattern that’s run from Ancient Egyptian times to the present.
•  The military budget, almost totally financed by the United States, is a complete secret, even to the Minister of Finance. Democracy and transparency may not have meaning in their vocabularies.
• The lack of a reliable timetable to establish a democratic government discourages new economic investment.
•  Workers (teachers, bus drivers, factory employees, physicians) are striking for higher wages and better working conditions, thus discouraging investors even more. 
•  The economy scratches  bottom.  The poor suffer most what with unemployment and horrendously high prices - particularly for food. Chicken, for example, is more expensive in Cairo than in Seattle.  Were it not for the food subsidies on lentils, rice and beans, food riots would likely erupt.
•  The moderate Muslim Brotherhood, which has serious internal dissension, also struggles with its relationship to the extremely conservative Salafis [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-salafi.htm} who seem to have entered the political scene quite out of the blue.

COMMON CAUSES
Parties are wrangling for their political niche - a new experience for Egyptians, but they are unanimous in opposing SCAF’s election laws (which mixed party slates and individual candidates) which are guaranteed to create chaos and to work in favor of big money in the new, larger electoral districts.

A “Take back the Revolution” demonstration on September 30 brought them together to condemn of election laws.

 A week later, (October 8th 2011), SCAF rescinded the offending law and added new strong measures in support of free and fair elections. (see accompanying document from Al Ahram Online).
So goes the push/push back.

HOW ARE WE FEELING?
Many Egyptians are frustrated by this process, which is  messy and anxiety-making.  For people here, unfamiliar as they are with the messiness of democracy in the best of times, it’s all the worse.

Still I remain optimistic. Activists not only continue to a demonstrate but they are building the civic institutions the country desperately needs. At this point they seem to be concentrating on universities, schools and the labor movement - great places to begin.

Demonstrations and the threats of anti-corruption lawsuits have led to the forced resignations of most NDP political appointees who had been raking in up to a million dollars a year via, for example, 10% kick-backs from money budgeted for infrastructure. 

School teachers formed an independent union and went on strike not only for better wages but to stop the pervasive ‘private tutoring’ in which many of them engage and which consumes up to 30% of the lower and middle class family income.

The labor movement is also hopping. I’ll write on that next time.

Raise your head high: You're Egyptian!

Cairo, Egypt
www.myeyeonegypt.net

You won’t –you can’t--believe the pride Egyptians feel about the January 25 Revolution.

“Raise you head high! You’re an Egyptian!” they say to each other.

Egyptian flags which only flew only on government buildings now flutter from apartment windows and passing cars. Red, white and black stripes are painted on everything—even the curbs of the sidewalks.  People say “The air is fresher; the sun more benign.” They fully trust life will get better.  So do I.

First free and fair

The referendum on constitutional changes will be the first time EVER that Egyptians have voted in fair and free elections.  My family of college professors is out in the streets with the “youth of Tahrir” explaining how democracy works and fanning enthusiasm for voting. They’re chatting up the shopkeepers.

My housekeeper Om Mohamed, who at 50 something,  had only voted once in her life (in exchange for a blanket and a box of food she never received) marched herself off to the Tahrir Square demonstrations. She, her adult children and all their neighbors are going to vote. They feel we need a totally new constitution so, like my family, will vote ‘no’ on the referendum.

Democacry: Fresh, clean and encumbered

While odd political bedfellows,  members of the old National Democratic Party and the Muslim Brotherhood, are pushing hard for a ‘yes’. They say it’s best to speed the transition and have early elections for parliament.

Of course, the decision would benefit both parties since they are, at the moment,  the only major, well-organized  politically  groups. They’re eager to get what control they can before other groups coalesce. And, in reality,  they’ve  got the advantage and are likely to dominate the political  sphere for a while.

[Flash: Returns from the election now in. 77% of voters approved the proposed amendments to the constitution] 

But not for long.  The people are determined; they’re learning;they’re not afraid. As a parking garage attendant  told me, “Tahrir Square is just down the street.”

Money woes

The economy’s on the brink of disaster. Tourism,  an economic mainstay,  is currently dead. Industry, at a standstill for over a month, falters. Average income dropped by 61% this month.

Desperately poor laborers, who are credited with being the early adopters of political activism in Egypt,  are striking for a living wage. The best they’ll get is 15% raise…well below the recent rises in cost of living.

Policeless state

A police state has its advantages; one is that the people are less likely to be assaulted by urban bandits. But the police been off-duty since Mubarak left and the thousands of thugs that Mubarak released during the uprising are out and hunting.

While the place is still safer than any city in the States, Egyptians are a bit rattled.  This week police began returning to the streets and people are relaxing.

The (fingers-crossed) transitional leadership

But the army, which the people warily hold in high esteem, is holding things together as best it can, enough for people  to smile and say  “Welcome to Egypt. Come visit us . Now please!”

 

Amal Sedky Winter PhD
Cairo Egypt
www.myeyeonegypt.net

 

People of Egypt Deserve a Nobel Peace Prize

Feburary 12, 2011
Cairo, Egypt
www.myeyeonegypt.net

People of Egypt Deserve a Nobel Peace Prize

Today was the start of the new era. Everyone turned out to clean up the Square. By the time my cousin, her daughter and our grandchildren arrived with garbage bags and candy, almost every scrap of rubbish had been picked up.

Young people proudly polished the lions statues at the entrance to Kasr il Nil Bridge. Others washed off the “Mubarak must leave” graffiti from the walls under them. They brought tears to my eyes.
 
The message is: We will clean up Egypt! From the inside to the out!"

For the first time I can remember, people are proud to be Egyptian.  There's a look in their eye, a confidence in their carriage which is completely new.

We look forward to a civilian interim governing committee, a temporary constitution, a referendum, a new parliament and then a president. And, think of it, we can!

Which reminds me—thank you President Obama for your great speech in support of what we did in Egypt.

Now, I think we should get busy and nominate this country a Nobel Peace Prize.
 
Amal Sedky Winter, PhD
www.myeyeonegypt.net

The Moment Mubarak Resigned.

February 11, 2011
Cairo Egypt
www.myeyeonegypt.net

The Moment Mubarak Resigned

It happened in a minute.
 
Mohamed’s phone rang just as my grandson appeared at Cairo airport’s arrival gate. “Mubark’s resigned! He’s resigned!” my friend burst out.  We swept the jet-legged Philip into the great whoop."He's resigned!   Resigned!"

We left the airport high-fiving and thumbs-upping every which way and drove straight to Tahrir Square horn-honking the celebratory rhythm associated with winning soccer games--the only occasions Egyptians have had to celebrate for 30 years. We passed cars flying huge Egyptian flags and large eight-wheelers with blaring horns. The road filled with cars as we reached city center; people calling out, “Mabruk” -congratulations - and waving peace signs out the windows.
 
I’d planned on taking Philip to Tahrir to join the protestors. 

Instead one minute brought that trial of endurance to an abrupt end. Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak was leaving.  We rushed to  celebrate!

A crowd of millions; not an inch of pavement to be seen. Flags everywhere. Children on their parents shoulders. Young women in pony-tails; many more in hijabs; a few in full face veils; A toothless old man from upper Egypt; a farmer in galabeya, skull cap and scarf who'd been demonstrating for a week; a group from an outlying oasis chanted Bedouin songs; a middle-aged layer had been there for 18 days; peaceful people stretching further than the eye could see.

The lawyer said,  “This should have happened long ago. We let him do it. We made him who he is. Not anymore.” He was still coughing from the tear-gas he’d inhaled.

The young man next to him pulled out his cell phone with pictures 40 pellets in his back and head. But this was a night of celebration. “Everything was worth it, il hamdu liallah—Thanks to God.”

My friend Muhamed said, "I don't hate my country any more."

To those who worry about an Islamist take-over. Please don’t underestimate these people. And to those who worry about a military one. The chants were: “Civilian. Civilian. Not military rule!”

Amal Sedky Winter, PhD
www.myeyeonegypt.net