http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2012/1113/eg13.htm
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875
6 - 12 September 2012
Issue No. 1113
Egypt
The writers' revolution
Egyptian intellectuals and leftists have been staging demonstrations to press
for protecting rights and freedoms, Ahmed Morsy reports
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Men of letters protested outside the Shura Council demanding "a civil
constitution"
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Over 5,000 protesters staged a demonstration at downtown Cairo's Talaat Harb
Square on Friday evening to press for five demands and against the
Brotherhoodisation or Muslim Brotherhood domination of state institutions. The
protest, which toured the streets downtown for several hours, included leftist
parties such as Al-Tagammu, the Egyptian Socialist Party, the Kifaya movement
and the Socialist Popular Alliance Party as well as revolutionary socialists
and activists.
On Sunday, 200 Egyptian writers and intellectuals gathered outside the Shura
Council in downtown Cairo demanding "a civil constitution", and stressing that
the country's draft constitution must guarantee civil freedoms and represent
Egypt's broad diversity. The protest was planned mainly by the "Constitution
for All Egyptians" campaign and the National Committee for Defending Freedom of
Expression and Creativity, which both consist of intellectuals, writers and
artists.
"The demonstration is supported by the Writers Union of Egypt, the Egyptian
Creativity Front, Egypt's Society of Writers, and the Press Syndicate, along
with the country's acting and film associations," Yehia Qallash, spokesman of
the National Committee for Defending Freedom of Expression and Creativity, said
during Sunday's protest. "Today's protesters express fears and concerns
regarding the public freedoms in the constitution currently being drafted,
especially freedom of expression and creativity."
Qallash justified such fears by reference to the manner in which the assembly
for drafting Egypt's new constitution was formed, with an Islamist majority,
posing many questions about the content. Such concerns are reflected in
Egyptian liberal and secular forces as well -- strict Islamic law, it is
feared, might be imposed in Egypt; that is not what the revolution was about.
The assembly's way of working is almost public relations oriented because at
first they held more than one listening session with some intellectuals and
artists who should have been partners in drafting the constitution. Yet the
leaked articles came out dissimilar to what had been agreed on.
The Shura Council protesters raised banners rejecting the religious
constitutional reading and calling for a constitution for all Egyptians. "Oh
constitution, we need equality. All the religions are for God," they chanted.
The Press Syndicate deputy Gamal Fahmi was among the protesters, stressing that
it was neither the first nor last sit-in demanding "a civil constitution": "One
goal gathered all of us to protect public freedom in every form. We believe
that the public freedoms are currently threatened even more than they were
during the old regime. One of the main revolutionary goals, freedom, is
currently under threat. Thus, coordination and cooperation between all the
entities of Egyptian society are needed for achieving the revolutionary goals
which are basic public rights and freedoms, freedom of expression, thought and
creativity."
The drafting of a new constitution has been a highly divisive issue in Egypt
since last year's uprising, which ousted long-standing authoritarian ruler
Hosni Mubarak. Similar to Fahmi's opinion, Bahiga Hussein, a journalist in
Al-Ahaly weekly newspaper, also demands a constitution that guarantees
intellectual, economic and health rights: "I believe that the assembly writing
the constitution won't produce a civil draft and it won't grant freedoms for
all Egyptians but instead will only impose oppression and repression. Therefore
we will continue our pressure tactics so as not to let the present assembly
freely write what it wishes."
To avoid conflict, novelist Sayed El-Wakil required a clearer representation
for intellectuals in the constitution drafting committee. El-Wakil said, "we
also need the constitution's articles to be written clearly in order to avoid
possible misinterpretations of the problems Egyptians might face."
Assurances that the constitution will guarantee freedoms for all and will
sustain the civil identity of the country were lately announced by the
spokesperson of the constitution writing assembly, Wahid Abdel-Meguid. In
addition, he emphasised that there is a strong tendency towards offering a
constitutional guarantee for the preservation of economic and social rights.
Asked why there is no trust in response to such assurances, former chairman of
the Press Syndicate, member of the Supreme Press Council and columnist Galal
Aref said, "there is a dispute within the assembly and therefore the assurances
are not guaranteed. We have to exercise pressure to have equilibrium in the
coming constitution. There is no democracy without freedom of thought."
Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil said Egypt will have a new constitution
drafted by the end of September, which will be submitted to a nationwide
referendum, according to Egypt's MENA state news agency. Nevertheless, he did
not specify a date for the referendum.
The assembly has made quick progress with the writing of the constitution,
spurred on by the postponement of a lawsuit calling for its dissolution.
On the other hand, regarding Friday's march in Talaat Harb Square, Kamal
Khalil, founder of the Workers Democratic Party, who initially called for the
protests, led the demonstrators through downtown Cairo, passing the High
Judiciary House onto Tahrir Square before finally marching to Talaat Harb
Square.
***
The protesters' five demands were: raising the minimum wage to LE1,500;
releasing all those imprisoned under sentences of military courts; rejecting
the proposed International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan; and refusing a safe exit
to former Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Chairman Field Marshal Hussein
Tantawi and his deputy Lieutenant General Sami Anan, who should be tried for
the killing of protesters under their rule.
Leading the protest, Khalil was seen carried on the shoulders of recently
released political prisoner Sambo, arrested during the Mohamed Mahmoud Street
clashes, after which he spent over a year in military detention.
"Initial calls were made for a million-man march," Khalil said. "However,
certain revolutionary powers suggested that we had better not call for a
million-man protest until Mursi's first 100 days of rule are over."
Khalil refused to identify those revolutionary powers to avoid any form of
"categorisation" but also took issue with calling the demonstration "a leftist
protest": "The protest was not a leftist protest; it is the protest of
revolutionaries, and the left is only one part of those revolutionaries."
Whoever claims that this protest is leftist only aims to isolate it from the
people. Yet the protesters chanted and waved both Egyptian and red flags. "The
left is rising, from the streets and factories," they chanted.
Abdel-Ghaffar Shokr, head of the Social Popular Alliance Party, agreed on the
five-point petition, insisting that all participants in the protest have the
same demands. "I believe that the protest is a crucial step in building a
cohesive opposition," he said over the phone. "Among the demands, we reject the
IMF loan since there have been extensive debates on IMF funds, and their
economic benefits. It would bury Egypt in debt and harm it economically and
politically."
Last month, Egypt requested a $4.8 billion loan during a Cairo meeting between
President Mohamed Mursi and the fund's chief Christine Lagarde. Nonetheless,
since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak, activists have been
campaigning under the banner "Drop Egypt's Debt", raising awareness about the
likely consequences of an IMF loan, which they argue would only work to
impoverish Egyptians.
The leftist assault on the Brotherhood's Mursi for accepting the loan triggered
a backlash from the Freedom and Justice Party's acting chairman Essam El-Erian
a week ago, accusing leftists on Twitter of receiving foreign funding, being
anti-religion and looking down on the people, and claiming that these are the
reasons for their failure. "Where is El-Erian, the left is here," chanted some
protesters. "Bread, freedom, social justice! The revolution still continues."
For his part, Shokr emphasised that "this isn't a continuation of the 24 August
protests and we as revolutionaries do not mix our cards. The latter was called
for by elements that had supported former presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafik who
only took to the streets to protest against the Brotherhood. They have allied
themselves with SCAF."
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