By Rania Al Malky
CAIRO: I don’t mean to gloat, but Friday’s front-page lead headline of the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, formerly an unashamed regime mouthpiece, triggered a combination of head-shaking indignation and relief.
“Safwat El-Sherif breaks down in tears” during interrogations, the headline said. Remanded in custody pending an investigation into abuse of power, corruption and illicit gain leading to a huge fortune amassed throughout an infamous career as information minister, speaker of the Shoura Council and secretary-general of the now dissolved National Democratic Party, which had dominated political life for over three decades, El-Sherif reportedly cried when faced with information about tens of millions of pounds worth of property he owns both in Egypt and abroad, including a mansion in Earl’s Court in London reportedly valued at £2 million.
The cause of indignation is that the very same El-Sherif in characteristic bare-faced manner, had actually phoned in on several TV shows to challenge his detractors to prove that he has single pound, or asset outside Egypt, remarking on several occasions that he didn’t flee the country because he doesn’t have a “chip on his shoulder.”
This was after ousted president Mubarak had stepped down and all the hawks of the fallen regime clearly knew that it was only a matter of time before they too will end up in Tora prison. Yet, El-Sherif, like others, seemed to believe that they were still somehow protected, that they had covered their tracks enough to ensure that they will retire gracefully into one of their mansions, irrespective of their past. Either he was in denial of the political tsunami that brought down the regime, or he actually believed that he could bribe his way out of this one.
But while the corruption probes and inquiries into the killing of peaceful protesters are finally moving along on solid grounds, other crises have been badly mishandled.
The standoff between protesters in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Qena and the government has now entered its eighth day. Protesters have rejected Cabinet’s choice of governor for two reasons, that he is a former police officer and a Christian, having suffered from his predecessor who was hugely inefficient, failing miserably to handle sectarian issues that have plagued the region during his tenure.
But while some observers believe that the issue is sectarian at heart, stoked by a growing extremist Salafi discourse, others deny that this is the crux of the issue, citing that the new governor’s affiliation with the hated police force and the failure of a former Coptic governor to rule are the main concern, as evidenced by the fact that Copts have also joined the protests.
While it is extremely dangerous to succumb to the whims and moods of protesters who, in this case, have gone as far as to obstruct all rail travel into or out of the city for days, it seems that in this case Cabinet has no choice. Ignoring the leverage of Qena’s powerful tribes, the Interior Minister and the Deputy Minister have been slow to respond effectively to the crisis, thus allowing the situation to continue deteriorating.
Since masses of residents have rejected the new choice, it’s hard to imagine how they will work with him if Cabinet continues to impose him on the people.
The reasons why this situation was allowed to exist in the first place, however, is the main issue. No sooner did the Qena crisis start to dominate media, and other residents of other governorates like Daqahliya and possibly Alexandria, have started a similar path to get rid of their chosen governors.
What the Cabinet and the ruling army council should have done was not simply remove the old governors and replace them in this rushed manner. The move was clearly simply motivated by a desire to tick off one more item from the list of protesters’ demands, than to set a long-term strategy that will benefit the people first and foremost. They could have killed two birds with one stone by removing the former governors and concurrently setting up a council of local representatives from all sectors in each governorate who would nominate a candidate around whom there is overwhelming consensus. And if the temporary leadership vacuum in some of these governorates is considered too dangerous, then the least they should have done would be to limit the tenure of the appointed governors till after the presidential elections, at which point legislation on the process of electing governors would have been complete and is ready for implementation, which is the ideal process.
In the worst mismanagement of a burgeoning crisis that has been largely ignored by the media for a host of reasons including an underhanded attempt at intimidation by the ruling army council, is the issue of military trials for civilians.
Allegedly affecting thousands of Egyptians who were detained by the military police after the ouster of Mubarak, the ad hoc nature of these trials, according to local and international rights groups, irrespective of due process have landed hundreds of people in jail on vague accusations of thuggery, when in fact they just happened to be exercising their constitutional right to protest.
Even though I have expressed time and again the need to end all protests, this does not mean that those who are detained for any reason should be denied their right to a fair trial in an ordinary civilian court.
The real thugs who have ruled Egypt for 30 years are getting fair trials, aren’t they?
Rania Al Malky is the Chief Editor of Daily News Egypt.
