Egypt needs a leader who has the popularity and competence to develop robust institutions
Egypt’s “road map” has been successful despite all the difficulties, obstacles, protests and explosions, writes Mohammed Salah, a columnist in the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat.
This transitional phase before the upcoming presidential elections is of key importance and opens the way to multiple questions about Field Marshal Abdel Fatah El Sisi’s candidacy.
“Is Field Marshal El Sisi’s candidacy appropriate for the country? Evidently, the most popular candidate will gather a sweeping majority in the first round, but the electoral battle promises to be interesting,” Salah said.
But such popularity will have to be tested against the violence of the Muslim Brotherhood; the supporters of Dr Mohammed ElBaradei, who are constantly opposing anything and everything; and other candidates. Since its revolution, Egypt no longer has any boundaries for conflict or criteria for competition, or rules for public behaviour, he added.
Will Field Marshal El Sisi risk it all and run for president? Some of his supporters fear that he may be targeted, but isn’t everyone a target in Egypt nowadays? Terror makes no distinction between a child or an elderly person, a man or a woman, or an official and a citizen.
If Field Marshal El Sisi is targeted as minister of defence, then he will be targeted as president. Great importance should be placed on security measures and procedures around him, as the presence of countless contenders will multiply the risks he faces.
Some maintain that the army may become a party in the political arena. Does this mean that the military will intervene in the elections? “The fact of the matter is that electoral fraud is no longer possible and the eyes of the world are currently set on Egypt,” the writer said. “Any candidate – whether it be Field Marshal El Sisi or any other – would be very keen on transparency and fair elections to distance himself from such questions. Moreover, the neutrality of the military institution in Egypt during elections is now a historical fact.”
The new president will face difficult conditions, as Egypt is subject to terrorism and is going through a difficult economic situation, affected by the repercussions of the revolution and the chaos instilled by the Brotherhood and its practices.
Field Marshal El Sisi will not govern on his own. “His main mission as president will be to set the stage for the various institutions of the state, leading them to perform efficiently,” the writer said.
Egypt is a country of countless resources that have been wasted for decades. It needs robust institutions capable of managing these resources, as well as a leader who has the competence to develop such institutions.
“The real risk is to have a president lead the country, while the popular leader stays inside the walls of the Ministry of Defence,” the writer concluded.
An Israeli withdrawal may become a reality
Earlier this week, Amos Yadlin, the head of the National Security Research Institute in Israel, proposed that Israel should unilaterally withdraw from most of the occupied West Bank territories, and confirmed that Israel must support the two-state solution even without the consent of the Palestinians.
“This only proves Israel’s staunch adherence to discrimination and supremacy,” said the columnist Mohammed Obeid in the Sharjah-based daily Al Khaleej.
Israel continues to undermine the other side, which can only create secondary tensions and conflicts that could have been averted in the first place.
Palestinians have grown accustomed to Israel’s fickle moods that end up eating away at their rights and slowly obliterating their cause.
The unilateral scenario exists and the tools and capabilities to carry it out are available. In the absence of impunity, Israel will stop at nothing to make it happen. Rights will be robbed and sieges will be imposed under the guise of a “unilateral withdrawal”, the writer argued.
And in light of the failing US-sponsored negotiations, it is likely that the Yadlin’s unilateral proposal will be on the table in the next few days – especially as it provides the Israeli side with many options and relieves it from the burden of interminable negotiations, he added.
The world has failed the Syrian people
One wonders on what grounds the international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi based his decision to bring the two warring sides in Syria together in one room in Geneva when he is well aware that the one person who is not in that room, president Bashar Al Assad, would never allow any concessions, said the columnist Abdul Rahman Al Rashed in the London-based daily Asharq Al Awsat.
He noted that Mr Al Assad would not even agree to open a passageway for the Red Cross to get aid to Homs citizens who have been besieged for over 10 months.
“It would be absurd to expect that the Assad regime would allow its employees in Geneva to negotiate the idea of its departure from authority and to form a coalition government that doesn’t include it.”
Rather than successfully besieging Mr Al Assad at the Geneva conference, the Syrian opposition delegation embarrassed the United Nations, which came out as a feeble institution. Its representative, Mr Brahimi, was unable to accomplish any significant breakthrough, the writer said.
The conference was a test for the UN and the powerful nations to gauge what would they be willing to do to stop the tragedy in Syria. They failed. The repercussions in Syria and the region will be devastating, the writer argued.
* Digest compiled by The Translation Desk
translation@thenational.ae
