This One is for Practice
Tomorrow, Egyptians will go through the motions of an election with many familiar trappings – registration lines, ballots, booths, officials, counters and “observers.” There will even be more than one candidate on the ballot. But don’t be confused. This is NOT an election; it is yet another referendum on president-for-life Mubarak.
Tomorrow, Egyptians will go through the motions of an election with many familiar trappings – registration lines, ballots, booths, officials, counters and “observers.” There will even be more than one candidate on the ballot. But don’t be confused. This is NOT an election; it is yet another referendum on president-for-life Mubarak.
We know the inputs necessary for democratic elections, and understand that repressive countries often get the form right but the content and the context wrong. And sometimes that’s OK, particularly when an open voting system (good form) without a civil society from which legitimate political parties and leaders could emerge before the vote (bad context) would simply oust the old dictator and install a new one (very bad content). In repressive societies the only organized “opposition” ready to take advantage of a newly open vote is not parliamentary/civilian but revolutionary/terrorist.
In Egypt’s case, we would be trading the secular, nationalist, dictatorial Mubarak for the fundamentalist, pan-Arab, dictatorial Muslim Brotherhood. From the first we are likely to get more elections in the future. From the second, probably not.
To those who say, “If the U.S. really wants democracy in the Arab world, it shouldn’t accept the re-ratification of Egypt’s dictatorship,” we would say, “Nor should we force the Egyptian people to choose right this minute between two non-democratic options.”
In Cairo in June, Secretary of State Rice said, “For 60 years, my country … pursued stability at the expense of democracy in this region here in the Middle East – and we achieved neither. Now, we are taking a different course. We are supporting the democratic aspirations of all people.” She lauded, “President Mubarak’s decision to amend the country’s constitution and hold multiparty elections (unlocking) the door for change.”
There are many potential slips between that unlocked door and a multiparty election dedicated to a peaceful change of government. The American government must accept the results of this referendum lest we find ourselves in bed with the Brotherhood. But we must also continue to poke, prod, and if need be, browbeat the Egyptian government into accepting political responsibility for increased civil liberties and emerging political parties. Or threaten, if tying future U.S. aid to advances in the civic sphere would help. And under no circumstances should we let our acquiescence to Mubarak’s continued governance of Egypt undermine our insistence that Egypt meet all of its security commitments to Israel.
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A note about Hurricane Katrina: We were NOT trying to absolve the Federal Government of blame for disaster response Friday – FEMA clearly needs reconstitution. But if you think the Feds are your FIRST line of response to a terrorist attack or natural disaster, you are mistaken. Personal, then local and State response are necessary. By law, the Feds only provide aid upon request, so make sure your plans are in place.