CAIRO: “[Mohamed] ElBaradei needs a miracle,” journalist Howaida Taha, who produced a documentary about the former IAEA head for Al Jazeera, told Daily News Egypt.
“Following my interviews with different people, I reached the conclusion that the Egyptian people are oblivious [to the political situation in Egypt] and don’t follow anything related to politics,” she said.
Last Friday, Al Jazeera channel broadcast a documentary about the political movement in Egypt titled “The Dream of Change.”
The 50-minute documentary was comprised of two parts, the first of which was about ElBaradei. The second part featured interviews with leaders representing different political powers in Egypt and their views on the political movement ElBaradei stirred over the past few months.
Taha said she asked people if they even knew who ElBaradei was and said some of them had no idea.
She added that she met two residents in the same village who gave different answers.
She quoted one respondent as saying, “Doesn’t ElBaradei work for the foreign ministry? Then how could he bite the hand that feeds him [referring to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak]?”
The other respondent told Taha, “Of course I know and support ElBaradei, Egypt isn’t private property for them to inherit [referring to the President’s son Gamal Mubarak].”
Taha told Daily News Egypt that ElBaradei stressed in the documentary that his stance is firm on running for the next presidential elections.
She quoted him saying “I won’t run [for president] before the seven demands I called for are met and I won’t allow myself to enter a fake political game.”
ElBaradei added, “I won’t support any other candidate running for presidency in the current circumstances.”
Taha said she asked ElBaradei whether he’ll resort to the international judiciary or call for international support, especially the US.
ElBaradei replied, “Resorting to the international judiciary is not an option.
“Obama is my friend, but I won’t ask for assistance from abroad, I will ask for assistance from the Egyptian people,” he continued.
Taha said that ElBaradei was worried the Egyptian regime wouldn’t respond to his seven demands.
“If the regime responds to these demands, it will save Egypt. If it doesn’t, I’m personally very wary of what might happen,” he said.
Taha discussed with ElBaradei some of his supporters’ reservations, including his travels abroad which they believe diminish his role in achieving change.
ElBaradei replied, “My tours abroad are part of the battle for change, the objective of these tours is to support Egypt’s position abroad, as I meet Egyptians and we discuss issues related to Egypt.”
ElBaradei addressed his differences with the leaders of the National Association for Change, which he founded after he returned to Egypt.
“Founding the association wasn’t my idea from the beginning, it was the idea of those who received [and supported] me,” he said.
“What occurred between us were not differences, they were merely a difference in points of view, they work in their way and I work in mine,” ElBaradei added.
The second part of the documentary includes interviews with political figures representing the different political powers in Egypt.
It also surveys Egyptians’ opinions on the battle for change.
Among those interviewed were Hassan Nafaa, general coordinator of the National Association for Change; Abdel Rahman Youssef, coordinator of the national campaign supporting ElBaradei; Osama El Ghazali Harb, a leading member of the Democratic Front Party; Essam El-Erian, official spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood; Hussein Abdel Razeq, former secretary general of the leftist opposition Tagammu Party; Ahmed Hassan, secretary general of the Nasserist Party; and Magdy El-Dakkak, leading member of the National Democratic Party.
Possible candidates for the next presidential elections were also interviewed for the documentary including Ayman Nour, founder of Al-Ghad Party, and Hamdeen Sabbahi, independent MP.
Intellectuals including novelist Alaa Al-Aswany and Wael Abdel Fattah, an Egyptian columnist in the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, were interviewed as well.
Taha said the documentary doesn’t just monitor the political movement in Egypt, but it also delves into the details of this movement.
