IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
We tell them it is a bull, they say milk it", goes an old Egyptian proverb. The reality of the Egyptian regime under Hosni Mubarak is no different. For all practical purposes, the regime is dead. It is merely the aphrodisiacs of American interest that has made it perform till now.
The election aura though has infused a few shots of excitement in an otherwise mundane Egyptian life, but sadly it's the most it can do...nothing more! Hence, it is not surprising that observers and experts are taking November 28 parliamentary elections as merely "another incident” in its not-very-illustrious electoral history. By now it is a forgone conclusion that the incumbent National Democratic Party (NDP) will easily bag two-thirds of the seats, which means that it can unilaterally come up with a bill and get it passed easily too. As far as the opposition is concerned, they are trying hard to play the second fiddle. In fact the going has only got tough for them since the last election five years ago. As you read this story, the civil society in Egypt is locked in a battle of nerve with the regime. However, privately, even they agree that they won't be successful in receiving full credentials and would at the best be allowed a limited access to the polls. As far as international observers and monitors are concerned, they have been given a cold shoulder by the Mubarak regime yet again.
And still, there is something very significant taking place in November. The Egyptian political existence is being tested as the nation draws close to the culmination of three decades of Hosni Mubarak’s presidency. President Mubarak and other higher-ranking figures in the regime and the National Democratic Party (NDP) have been thwarting both internal and external demands for overhaul of the political system. On the regime's part, the argument is that it is carrying out the reforms. The pace of the reforms is in complete harmony with Egypt's mundane pace of doing things. So, not surprisingly, the observers are finding it difficult to see any reforms!
Given these circumstances, it is difficult to say whether these polls are a real electoral progress or not. Still, there could have been some consolation if the election were freer and fairer from the 2005 polls. But as things unfold, it is becoming increasingly clear that it will not be the case.
From the regime's perspective, there are at least two developments in this election that amount to electoral reforms. The first is the establishment of an “independent” election commission and the second is the conception of a 64-seat quota for women lawmakers in the People’s Assembly.
Says Amr Hamzawy, an expert of Egyptian affairs at Carnegie Middle East Center while talking to TSI, “The election commission has replaced the clumsy method of judicial supervision but I don't see it as an improvement. In fact, far from it. The judges had integrity and were willing to call a spade a spade. The same cannot be said about the commission which has shown in the recent past that it can bend backward on any pretext.” Strong words. But evidence suggests that Hamzawy is not off the mark. If the manner in which the election commission conducted the Shura elections is taken as the yardstick, the picture is far from rosy.
The women reservation in the Assembly is indeed a welcome step. However, it is pretty evident that these nominations and elections will be manipulated to augment the ruling NDP's numbers in the house.
Let's talk about the Opposition now. In 2005, it appeared a united bunch and campaigned with all guns blazing. In 2010, many of them are boycotting the polls. The Ghad party, National Democratic Front party and the National Association for Change have decided to boycott the polls in protest of the NDP’s denial to meet their requests for measures guaranteeing the equity and transparency of the polls.
It is true that the Opposition’s past involvement has ultimately provided the regime with the accoutrement of a morganatic democracy. Participation in Egypt’s mendacious pluralism and slanted elections only secures the Opposition an inefficacious and fundamentally token existence in the government. Neither the Opposition entities nor the independent members of the Assembly have been successful in altering the legislative process. Even with the opposition’s representation in Assembly at an all-time high from 2005-2010 – it claimed over 20 per cent of the People’s Assembly seats, thanks primarily to the Muslim Brotherhood – the NDP found no hindrance in passing all of its bills and draft policies.
On the contrary, the Wafd party and the Muslim Brotherhood — the most well-conducted and surefooted opposition groups in Egypt — have decided to take part, as have Tagammu and a few smaller parties. The recent messages by the executives of the Brotherhood Guidance Bureau signal that the Brotherhood will seek to field as many as 200 candidates. The outlawed and perpetually ragged Muslim Brotherhood is inexplicably allowed to back independents who are due to contest under the shibboleth, “Islam is the Solution”, making it all clear who is behind them.
The government on its part is using every possible tool at its disposal to discourage the opposition. Just to give an example, Egypt's authorized satellite provider, Nilesat, has blocked four satellite broadcasters and 17 private channels for allegedly “transgressing standards” and another 20 channels are threatened with debarment of their permits. These channels cannot share feed from al-Jazeera which was expected to give a transparent coverage of the elections.
No discussion of Egyptian elections can be complete without mentioning the National Association for Change established by Muhammmad ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. ElBaradei tried his best to change the way things are conducted in Cairo, but he got little support from outside.
“During the presidential polls in Tehran last year, Western politicians and media censured Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and portrayed the opposition figurehead, Mirhossein Mousavi, as the lone promise for democracy. It is funny how the same sources publish uncritically about the polls in Egypt, while at the same time having very little constructive to say about ElBaradei,” maintains Ali Younes, a writer and a Middle East analyst based in Washington DC, while talking to TSI. It was not for nothing that the frustrated ElBaradei decided to boycott the elections.
The rationale for this is not hard to interpret. Along with Israel, Egypt is the primary affiliate of the Western powers in the neighbourhood, while ElBaradei has been a thorn in the flesh of the US ever since evincing his resistance to the Iraq war. ElBaradei has also been unequivocal in his opposition to American-Israeli plans for a military adventure in Iran.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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We tell them it is a bull, they say milk it", goes an old Egyptian proverb. The reality of the Egyptian regime under Hosni Mubarak is no different. For all practical purposes, the regime is dead. It is merely the aphrodisiacs of American interest that has made it perform till now.
The election aura though has infused a few shots of excitement in an otherwise mundane Egyptian life, but sadly it's the most it can do...nothing more! Hence, it is not surprising that observers and experts are taking November 28 parliamentary elections as merely "another incident” in its not-very-illustrious electoral history. By now it is a forgone conclusion that the incumbent National Democratic Party (NDP) will easily bag two-thirds of the seats, which means that it can unilaterally come up with a bill and get it passed easily too. As far as the opposition is concerned, they are trying hard to play the second fiddle. In fact the going has only got tough for them since the last election five years ago. As you read this story, the civil society in Egypt is locked in a battle of nerve with the regime. However, privately, even they agree that they won't be successful in receiving full credentials and would at the best be allowed a limited access to the polls. As far as international observers and monitors are concerned, they have been given a cold shoulder by the Mubarak regime yet again.
And still, there is something very significant taking place in November. The Egyptian political existence is being tested as the nation draws close to the culmination of three decades of Hosni Mubarak’s presidency. President Mubarak and other higher-ranking figures in the regime and the National Democratic Party (NDP) have been thwarting both internal and external demands for overhaul of the political system. On the regime's part, the argument is that it is carrying out the reforms. The pace of the reforms is in complete harmony with Egypt's mundane pace of doing things. So, not surprisingly, the observers are finding it difficult to see any reforms!
Given these circumstances, it is difficult to say whether these polls are a real electoral progress or not. Still, there could have been some consolation if the election were freer and fairer from the 2005 polls. But as things unfold, it is becoming increasingly clear that it will not be the case.
From the regime's perspective, there are at least two developments in this election that amount to electoral reforms. The first is the establishment of an “independent” election commission and the second is the conception of a 64-seat quota for women lawmakers in the People’s Assembly.
Says Amr Hamzawy, an expert of Egyptian affairs at Carnegie Middle East Center while talking to TSI, “The election commission has replaced the clumsy method of judicial supervision but I don't see it as an improvement. In fact, far from it. The judges had integrity and were willing to call a spade a spade. The same cannot be said about the commission which has shown in the recent past that it can bend backward on any pretext.” Strong words. But evidence suggests that Hamzawy is not off the mark. If the manner in which the election commission conducted the Shura elections is taken as the yardstick, the picture is far from rosy.
The women reservation in the Assembly is indeed a welcome step. However, it is pretty evident that these nominations and elections will be manipulated to augment the ruling NDP's numbers in the house.
Let's talk about the Opposition now. In 2005, it appeared a united bunch and campaigned with all guns blazing. In 2010, many of them are boycotting the polls. The Ghad party, National Democratic Front party and the National Association for Change have decided to boycott the polls in protest of the NDP’s denial to meet their requests for measures guaranteeing the equity and transparency of the polls.
It is true that the Opposition’s past involvement has ultimately provided the regime with the accoutrement of a morganatic democracy. Participation in Egypt’s mendacious pluralism and slanted elections only secures the Opposition an inefficacious and fundamentally token existence in the government. Neither the Opposition entities nor the independent members of the Assembly have been successful in altering the legislative process. Even with the opposition’s representation in Assembly at an all-time high from 2005-2010 – it claimed over 20 per cent of the People’s Assembly seats, thanks primarily to the Muslim Brotherhood – the NDP found no hindrance in passing all of its bills and draft policies.
On the contrary, the Wafd party and the Muslim Brotherhood — the most well-conducted and surefooted opposition groups in Egypt — have decided to take part, as have Tagammu and a few smaller parties. The recent messages by the executives of the Brotherhood Guidance Bureau signal that the Brotherhood will seek to field as many as 200 candidates. The outlawed and perpetually ragged Muslim Brotherhood is inexplicably allowed to back independents who are due to contest under the shibboleth, “Islam is the Solution”, making it all clear who is behind them.
The government on its part is using every possible tool at its disposal to discourage the opposition. Just to give an example, Egypt's authorized satellite provider, Nilesat, has blocked four satellite broadcasters and 17 private channels for allegedly “transgressing standards” and another 20 channels are threatened with debarment of their permits. These channels cannot share feed from al-Jazeera which was expected to give a transparent coverage of the elections.
No discussion of Egyptian elections can be complete without mentioning the National Association for Change established by Muhammmad ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. ElBaradei tried his best to change the way things are conducted in Cairo, but he got little support from outside.
“During the presidential polls in Tehran last year, Western politicians and media censured Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and portrayed the opposition figurehead, Mirhossein Mousavi, as the lone promise for democracy. It is funny how the same sources publish uncritically about the polls in Egypt, while at the same time having very little constructive to say about ElBaradei,” maintains Ali Younes, a writer and a Middle East analyst based in Washington DC, while talking to TSI. It was not for nothing that the frustrated ElBaradei decided to boycott the elections.
The rationale for this is not hard to interpret. Along with Israel, Egypt is the primary affiliate of the Western powers in the neighbourhood, while ElBaradei has been a thorn in the flesh of the US ever since evincing his resistance to the Iraq war. ElBaradei has also been unequivocal in his opposition to American-Israeli plans for a military adventure in Iran.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
GIDF Club of IIPM Lucknow Organizes Blood Donation Camp
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
The hunt for hostel and paying guest (PG) accommodation for students
Best Colleges for Vocational Courses in India
INDIA'S BEST COLLEGES, INSTITUTES and UNIVERSITIES
Anna Hazare: My Prime Minister
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