Article Translation - ELBaradei and post-retirement illusions
Deena Hassan
Dear Translators,
I translated this article from al-Ahram of December 6, 2009. Please find below the translated text and the link on the Meedan page.
http://198.145.243.38/tb/?mid=239&name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ahram.org.eg%2Farchive%2FIndex.asp%3FCurFN%3DMKAL2.HTM%26DID%3D10153%26Date%3D2009_12_6&svcid=ar-ar_en-us
ELBaradei and post-retirement illusions
Al-Ahram Editorial
Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei gave statements to the national and independent press revealing his intentions to run for President of Egypt in the coming elections. Through his statements, he made some provisions related to the Egyptian political scene as we knew it a few years ago. It seems that his long absence from Egypt, 27 years, disconnected him from the Egyptian status quo, which has gone through many changes, of which the most significant are the constitutional reforms which opened the gate for freedoms and rivalry over the President office. The independent unbiased national committee to supervise the electoral process and ensure its integrity which Dr. ELBaradei demanded in his first item, has already been formed.
After his retirement, Dr. ElBaradei still apparently bears some grudges for his country, so he meant for his statements to tackle points that brings the Egyptian system back to square one, before the recent constitutional amendments took place. He called for a new constitution, describing the status quo as lacking equal opportunities.
Dr. El Baradei needs to understand, he and the other candidates and wishfuls of the President office, that it is necessary for everyone to respect the current constitution and its terms, and not attempt to tailor a constitution the way they wish in order to serve the desires and ambitions of some outsider parties that seek to control Egypt’s destiny. The “High Post,” as he described should not be used for the benefit of multiple interests.
Dr. ElBaradei did not forget that he was a candidate supported by the Americans, Europeans and other currencies against Egypt’s candidate at the time, Dr. Mohamed Shakir. Respecting the current constitution ensures the high post to be occupied by the one who is worthy of it and qualified for it. The candidate should be aware of all the internal as well as the external affairs. It is not good enough to be an expert on nuclear disarmament.
To run for the big office, candidates have to be Egyptians and not bi-nationals, and Dr. ElBaradei has been a holder of a Swiss passport for years. He may still recall the few years he served in Egypt when he stepped foot in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1964 and was ranked last in his graduation year. That was before he headed to New York to get a PhD scholarship where he got a job at the IAEA and made his way to be the director of its NY office and eventually became the president of the whole Agency.
We agree with Dr. ElBaradei that it is a matter of a homeland’s fate, and that we need to have a comprehensive vision and a spirit of transparency and reconciliation and stop busying ourselves with the past and its consequences. We agree with him that we all need to collaborate our efforts to build a society based on freedom of expression and freedom of religion, a society that is free of poverty and fear. We agree that we need to establish a system based on equal opportunities, rational reasoning and focused on research and scientific development, and that we need to realize a balance between free economy and social justice.
However, we call on him to unhurriedly reread the Egyptian status quo, now that retired and has the time for it. We refuse his “majority” and “minority” labeling. The Egyptian history refuses to refer to Christians and Nubians as minorities, the words that are being reiterated by some forces of whom Dr. ElBaradei lends ears to.
If the aim was, as he claims, for us all to work on establishing a society that serves humanity and ensures everyone the right of a prosperous secure life, then our decisions should draw largely on this status quo and not on some readings or analysis made by enemy forces that seek to stir chaos and instability. Those forces open the door for interference in the Egyptian internal affairs. We learned by experience that a society cannot be built except by its own people. Enough of the interference and enough of what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan and the disasters that befell their peoples. Several intrusive policies had caused enough difficulties to our country and opened the door for the “creative chaos” that George Bush Junior told us about before he was gone, leaving behind his political errors and disasters. Dr. ElBaradei now wants to repeat those mistakes and advocates for thinking he could cause embarrassment to Egypt and its political system.
To be objective to Dr. ElBaradei, we are obliged to tell him to take it easy on himself and his country, and to not contribute like many of those who abused the climate of freedom and change in Egypt to harming Egypt. We tell him not to make an easy ride of himself for outsider forces or groups of interests that are on the watch of the Egyptian experiment of economic, political and social reform, for the benefit of outsider interests. We ask him not to be an easy ride for a force that opens the doors to outsiders, under the guise of reform and freedom, to waste our gains of reforms that are now taking place in Egypt and are being developed.
Best,
--
Deena
Yaser El Kosair
| great work Deena here is the link of the event of the article below: http://beta.meedan.net/index.php?page=events&post_id=287534 thanks yaser Yaser Hassan El- Kosair http://delicious.com/yaserhk --- On Sun, 6/12/09, Deena Hassan <deen...@gmail.com> wrote: |