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Democracy in Egypt

 

 

Hosni Mubarak’s campaign poster. Caption reads: “Leadership… and crossing into the future.

©2005 Hosni Mubarak

Ayman Nour campaign banner.

©2005 Ayman Nour

Democratic reform in Egypt is a one step forward, one step back, two to the side kind of experience. It is sometimes exciting and promising, often frustrating and depressing, and too often stagnant. This special focus section explores the issue of democracy in Egypt.

 

 

Jailhouse blog

November 2007 – On Friday, people of all faiths will join forces outside Egyptian embassies to express solidarity with a jailed blogger. Read on

 

Give it a break, Mr Mubarak

October 2007 – Egypt’s decision to jail four newspaper editors does more to damage the president’s reputation than anything they ever wrote. Read on

 
Restoring faith in national unity

May 2006 – Most Egyptians are justified in their conviction that Egypt does not have a history of sectarian strife. But pretending that all is rosy in communal relations could lead to the increasing Balkanisation of Egyptian society. Restoring faith in national unity requires migrating religion to the private domain. We should start by removing religious affiliation from identity cards and abolishing the law against apostasy so that Muslims and Christians have equal freedom to convert.

 

I: Restoring faith in national unity

II: Sacred unity

III: Privatising faith
 
Editorial
Count on Mubarak

September 2005 – Egypt is about to experience a first: its citizens will get the opportunity to go to the ballot box to select a new president in the country’s first-ever multi-candidate elections. Given our inexperience with such polls, Diabolic Digest has decided to go out on a limb and predict the outcome of the presidential race and peer into the future of Egyptian democracy. Read on

 

Testing Mubarak’s democracy

September 2005 – A young university student decides to put Egyptian democracy to the test by joining an opposition party, giving his support to one of the other presidential candidates and revealing his real name in print. Read on

 

Between democrat and autocrat

September 2005 – Hosni Mubarak may be a semi-authoritarian ruler, but he takes his legacy seriously and has a genuine vision for a democratic future for Egypt, argues Carlos Tiny*. Read on

 

Outcomes of the unexpected

September 2005 – To an alien visitor, it would look like a full-blown election. But we mortals expect Hosni Mubarak to win the election. But, asks Khaled Diab, what if the unexpected occurs… Read on

 

Egypt 2008

September 2005 – Hosni Mubarak dies suddenly in 2008 and the presidency is up for grabs, KM peers into the future… Read on

 

 

Satire – The odd-ventures of Haflatoun

Episode III – Haflatoun needs your vote

Caught between mild delusion and total confusion, Haflatoun abandons the cushioned comfort of an Athenian ‘soul asylum’ (aka psychiatric hospital) and the profound Pandora to return to Cairo and become the Political Apathy Party’s presidential candidate. Read on

 

Will Mubarak let Egypt’s people pick a president?

April 2005 – Citizens of the Arab world’s largest country have been promised the chance to choose a replacement for their long-serving president. But not everyone is convinced that Egyptian democracy will run smoothly. Read on

 

Not a love letter to the Egyptian president

January 2005 – Faced with the grim prospects of prolonged political virginity, Khaled Diab decides to make President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak an indecent proposal. Read on

 

Useful links

Mubarak’s campaign website: www.mubarak2005.com

al-Wafd Party: http://hezb.alwafd.org/

Kifaya!: http://www.harakamasria.net/english1.asp?id=15

Al-Ghad party: http://www.elghad.org/

Nour campaign website: www.vote4nour.com

Muslim Brotherhood: www.ikhwanonline.com

 

 

 

 

 

ã2005 K. Diab. Unless otherwise stated, all the content on this website is the copyright of Khaled Diab.