CAIRO: In a documentary aired on Al Jazeera channel, Mohamed ElBaradei highlighted the importance of Egypt’s youth, saying that change will come through them as they are the “future and hope” of this country.
The documentary “Dream of Change” explores the campaign for change launched by the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), including an interview with ElBaradei by Howaida Taha.
The documentary discussed the current political situation in Egypt, expectations for the future and change mechanisms. It also discussed the country’s youth and the campaign’s objectives, the support of the people and harassment by the regime.
Taha was previously sentenced to six months in jail for "possessing and giving false pictures about the internal situation in Egypt that could undermine the dignity of the country” after she worked on a documentary which included footage of torture incidents inside Egyptian prisons and police stations.
“Dream of Change” showed footage of ElBaradei’s visits to different parts of Egypt and the immense public support he received.
“What I want is a peaceful change,” ElBaradei explained to Taha, “I find the majority living below the poverty line, 30 percent cannot read or write and the ruling party refuses to talk to us and explain why it’s not canceling the emergency law, why can’t Egyptians living abroad vote and why can’t there be supervision by the judicial system or international bodies?
“They didn’t discuss any of these but embarked on a personal attack which indicates political bankruptcy,” he said.
“The cultured class has to get out of its spiral of silence, of its concentration on its immediate interests, and realize that what they have achieved is not sustainable amidst these current conditions,” he pointed out.
When asked what he expects of the Muslim Brotherhood and what they expect of him, ElBaradei replied, “They don’t expect anything from me except to continue the call for change.
“What I expect of them as part of the public and an organized body with many followers to sign the ‘Statement for Change’ as they said in order to give us credibility inside and outside of Egypt.”
On a final note ElBaradei said, “[I need] the Egyptian public to get up and realize that change won’t happen except on the hands of the Egyptian people.”
ElBaradei was criticized for appearing on Al Jazeera channel – which some people argue aims at marring Egypt’s image abroad.
On his Facebook page “ElBaradei for Presidency of Egypt 2011,” he responded explaining that he accepted Al Jazeera’s interview because he has been denied any appearance on Egyptian satellite local channels.
During his interview with Taha, ElBaradei said, “I was supposed to be interviewed once or twice on [local] satellite channels but they were cancelled due to technical reasons. However, when I looked into the matter [I discovered] that they weren’t actually cancelled for those reasons.”
The documentary also showed footage of the ongoing protests and sit-ins in the country, in particular those held in front of the Shoura Council and People’s Assembly. It also showed security forces violently breaking up protests.
ElBaradei said that over the past 50 years there hasn’t been any participation from the public, as if they had delegated the government to do everything on their behalf.
Mahmoud Adel El-Heta, creator of the Facebook page “ElBaradei for Presidency of Egypt 2011,” explained that given the country’s conditions, he sent ElBaradei an email in which he calls on him to return and save Egypt.
His answer came on ElBaradei’s CNN interview on November 6 in which he publicly announced that on the conditions of a fair and free election he will run for the presidency of Egypt.
Followers of ElBaradei also pointed out that their aim is not only for him to be elected, but to be elected in a free and fair election.
