let's give Egyptian democracy a chance
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Let's give Egyptian democracy a chance
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By GHASSAN MICHEL RUBEIZ
Give Egypt's new president the benefit of the doubt.
The candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Mursi,
was recently elected the president of Egypt. After decades of covert struggle,
the Muslim Brotherhood has now emerged into open air, through the power of the
ballot box.
The day he won, the former U.S.-trained engineer
graciously stressed unity: "I will serve all Egyptians, Muslims and Copts;
there will be no difference between one community and another. There will be no
settling of scores, revenge or oppression after today."
If Mursi succeeds as a president, he will have conducted
the first Arab experiment that integrates religion with democracy.
In attempting to do so, he would do well to look at the
Turkish Islamic model. It emphasizes human development, a strong industrial
base and partnerships across borders. It took many years for the Turkish
government to tame its military. Ankara managed to clip the wings of the
generals after it significantly improved the economy.
There are some signs that the Muslim Brotherhood may
adopt the Turkish framework. Mursi recently formed the Freedom and Justice
Party, a parallel structure to Turkey's Development and Justice Party. Both
parties were instituted in the two countries to ensure some separation of the religious
movement from secular executive power. Egypt won't make an exact copy of the
Turkish model, but it should gain insight from it.
Then there is the problem of the military.
Mursi will have to form a coalition government engaging
secular parties and civic society groups to be able to gradually liberate the
system from the military.
Since the downfall of former dictator Hosni Mubarak, the
Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has aggressively retained a strong hold on
the legislative and executive power and on internal security. Its
unconstitutional power grab in the days leading up to the election cannot be
allowed to stand.
Egyptians have chosen their leader. The world community
ought to give Mursi a chance to succeed or fail. If Mursi fails in his leadership,
the next elections will show him out. Democracy is served when the electoral
process is respected.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Ghassan Michel Rubeiz, a social scientist andpolitical
commentator,is the former secretary of the Middle East for the Geneva-based World
Council of Churches. He wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of
liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with
The Progressive magazine. Readers may write to the author at: Progressive Media
Project, 409 East Main Street, Madison, Wis. 53703; email: pmproj@progressive.org; Web site: www.progressive.org. For information on
PMP's funding, please visit http://www.progressive.org/pmpabout.html#anchorsupport.
This article was prepared for The Progressive Media
Project and is available to MCT subscribers. McClatchy-Tribune did not
subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and
do not necessarily represent the views of McClatchy-Tribune or its editors.
2012 Ghassan Michel Rubeiz
Copyright 2012
posted by Ghassan Rubeiz at 2:30 PM
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