Thursday, August 08, 2013

Moving To Democracy

The West is inextricably focused on their system of governance as the absolute best solution. Democracy, which the ancient Greeks felt was the playing out of personal responsibility by the individual to advancing the collective good by rotating personal representation. The democracy that is seen in action today is a creature that developed out of that original brilliant solution to governing for the people by the people. For the people then really did take their turn in government.

They still do, but as discrete representatives voted into office by a majority approval. In the United States today, the nation most anxious to export its system of governance world-wide, achieving the status of a high-placed government official can be bought; it takes deep, very deep pockets to convince the electorate. And the proportion of eligible voters that take the bother to visit the polls is increasingly heading to the vanishing point.

That aside, the United States and the European Union in particular, are extremely concerned that Egypt must embrace democracy. Indeed, Egypt is anxious enough to do so, but it must have the political flavour that reflects Egyptian values and priorities. It's like buying a deep-fried filled doughnut in Tokyo, biting into it expecting a lush fruit interior, and instead what seeps out is a savoury curry filling.

Egypt's interim government and head of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, General al Sisi, are not dreadfully enthused  with the unrequested intervention of the West. It is Egypt's future interests that they are concerned with attending to, most definitely not the fears and apprehensions of foreign countries accustomed to dabbling their interfering fingers in Egypt's affairs.

For this is most definitely an internal affair of great moment at a time when the country is wracked by pressing problems. The sinister threat of growing Islamism is but one of those problems; regional insecurity, the country's financial stresses, mass unemployment, crime rates, represent other looming concerns, including the destabilization of Egypt's Sinai by the incursion of al-Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood-supported Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Salafist Bedouin.

Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham took their turns in flying to Egypt presenting themselves as decrepit, right-minded American scolds. The EU's Catherine Ashton had her turn, after all. Meeting with top military and civilian leaders who might think they have other, more pressing deployments to tend to, including resolving their stand-off with intransigent Muslim Brotherhood supporters, but displaying traditional Egyptian hospitality to interfering foreigners.

"We urge the release of political prisoners", said Mr. McCain. "In democracy, you sit down and talk to each other", said Mr. Graham. "It is impossible to talk to somebody who is in jail." Talking to someone who will not listen until the status quo is entirely reversed and what was rejected has been restored may seem impossible to Egyptian politicians and the military. Egypt may be looking with interest at the Fort Hood courtesies.

Egypt, warned the two gravely, risked sundering relations with the U.S. "Some in Congress want to sever the relationship. Some want to suspend the aid", said Senator Graham. "We have to be honest to where the relationship stands.  ... We can't support Egypt that is not moving to democracy." Egyptian officials remind their visitors that reconciliation is a priority for them but it cannot occur without the Muslim Brotherhood renouncing violence.

According to Ahmed el-Musalamani, spokesman for interim president Adly Mansour, "foreign pressure has exceeded international standards." Egypt, he stressed, plans to protect "the revolution" of June 30, the day hundreds of thousands of his countrymen made abundantly clear that they had no further use of Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood cabal, bringing the country to utter ruin under Sharia.

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posted by Pieface @ Thursday, August 08, 2013

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