The more people's life in Cairo returns to some kind of routine, the less the presence and pressure of/by protesters in the streets becomes, the more I have the impression that initiative and momentum for change has shifted to different arenas...Most visibly to the political arena, which to the date is dominated by the MIlitary Council. It is thus worth looking at some of the developments that have taken place regarding the institutional side of all this, time for politics:
Governemnt reshuffled - and already impaired by lack of legitimacy
The government has been reshuffled, several ministers of Shafik's cabinet being substituted by other figures. The process has been kind of chaotic, first information leaked on Sunday, more rumours were out on Monday, and it took untill Tuesday till the government's new composition was known. On Monday for example, it was first announced that el-Sawy, a reknown but contested figure in Egypt's cultural landscape, famous for his cultural center in Zamalek, was appointed cultural minister. Later media announced that Sawy refused to join the current government, other reports quoted him as only saying he'd first await the reshuffling before announcing his decision. Eventually he accepted the post and gave his first speech yesterday. As reported by Bikyamasr the appointment of el-Sawy was met with severe criticism by several „young intellectuals“.
Gouda Abdel Khaleq, a member of Tagammu party had accepted his appointment without discussing the issue with his party, which responded with the outright rejection of his decision and threatened him with exclusion from the party.
Another supposed minister announced he had not been informed lest asked about his appointment, and was not willing to take up any post. (A blog article gives an idea of the chaos surrounding the appointments and also of the doubtful credentials of some of its members.) Some people already suspected that this was mis-information policy was inetnional, intending to prevent people from joining the protests on Tuesday.
Masr al Youm lists the names and positions of the new cabinet members,and amends this by an article in which new Deputy Prime Miinister Al-Gamal expresses his doubt about the integrity of several new ministers...
According to Masr alYoum There is a fact finding commission on the violence against protesters in the first week, they have confirmed several allegations (police opening fire intentionally, using rubber bulletts and live amunition, armored vehicles delberately running over people) and indicated that there has been some finding as to who was responsible for the camels and horses assaulting the protesters in week 2.
Constitutional Change heavily debated
Regarding constitutional reform heated debates are going on, there is dissent regarding several aspects, some of them being:
The time frame: should all necessary constitutional changes happen now or some of them being postponed to after the next elections? Yet there is also no agreement yet as to when the next elections should be held. Fears are grwoing that early elections in September as previously announced by the Military Council would benefit the Muslim Brotherhood and the remnants of the old/outgoing/persistent regime. While other fractions and groups of Egyptian society still need time to organize their participation in election (campaigns), and to institutionalise their efforts, the MB and figures from the Mubarak regime/NDP can draw on existing infrastructure.
The extent of change: should a whole new constitution be drafted or is it sufficient to change several articles?
The relation of religion and the state: should Egypt continue to refer to Islam as the state religion in its constitution, as currently done in article 2 of the constitution? Or should Egypt become a secular state? (And, actually: what does secular mean, anyways?) Regarding this issue the constitutional amendment committe had already announced it would leave article 2 untouched. Yet, 4 weeks ago, Clinton had called Egypt „stable“ and only 2 weeks ago Mubarak had thought he'd remain president....so I guess „never say never“ has never (ehm) been a better advice... http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/constitutional-amendment-committee-article-ii-will-not-be-touched
The question of legitimacy: who should actually be in charge of redrafting the constitution? Military leaders, seriously? A committee of doubtable legitimacy? And in how far and what way has such a new or changed constitution to be approved of by the people?
The system: what kind of institutional setup should the new Egyptian democracy have? Are we looking for a presidential or a parliamentary system?
Public Debate
This list could definitely be continued, yet as far as I understood these are some of the most important points for now. It is remarkable also, how much these instutional and constitutional questions have become an issue of public debate! I am not sure how far this „public space“ extends and how inclusive it is, yet what from what I observed I can conclude that the interest in the technical and legal aspects of reshaping the Egyptian state transcends (some) class boundaries, is found equally among men and women, among people young and old and of any profession. There are public lectures and debates held in various places, many Egyptian media address the issue and whether you go to the balladi akhwas of downtown, agouza and dokki or the coffeshops in upscale Zamalek you'd hear „dustour“ (constitution) and „hizb al watani“ (NDP) everywhere...
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