Egypt´s distress

Egypt´s current crisis raises many questions. Three years ago, the democratic transition for a post-Mubarak era had generated great enthusiasm. Then, after a brief and not always wise passage of the Muslim Brotherhood through power, the military took over. The coup d´état passed unnoticed in the Western capitals, a true miracle, like when one manages to walk in between the drops of the pouring rain. Now, hundreds of people are being sentenced to death, then in many cases their sentences commuted to life in prison, most of them just for the crime of being in the streets during mass demonstrations against the military authorities. It is a mockery of justice in a country that deserves more than this absurd – an unacceptable – way of dealing with discontent.

Below the surface we have a country that is unable to take care of itself. The population growth has been too rapid, a true explosion, and there is no economy to match it. Jobs are just not there. And the traditional solution – to migrate to richer countries in the Middle East – is less and less viable. People are too unskilled to be able to move out of their poor environment. They are trapped. That´s the worst thing that can happen to a poor person.

It is, in many ways, a wake-up call of situations to come in similar countries, in places with the same type of demographic and economic challenges. It should make one think deeply. But before that, it calls for a louder voice that is able to say that something is terribly wrong in the banks of the Nile River. It is time for the international friends of Egypt to step in. 

Egypt: unacceptable court proceedings

Let me be clear. Kangaroo courts and irrational judgments like the ones now taking place in Egypt are simply unacceptable. The way hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers and activists have been sentenced – most of them to death – has to be denounced as totally inappropriate in any country today. It is just absurdly infamous and nothing can justify that type of processes. Each trial is a violation of the most basic human rights

I realise the Egyptian society is now deeply divided. But it cannot be guided by blind hate. It has, on the contrary, to find ways to bring people together. There is no way one segment of society is going to be able to annihilate the opposing segment. They have to compromise and live together.

I am very surprised by the Western leaders´ silence. I cannot understand why the EU and the US are not loud and clear about these medieval approach to governance in Egypt. 

Today´s Egypt

I have talked to someone who knows Egypt well. And I came to the conclusion that any black-and-white approach to the current situation in the country would be a serious mistake. Egypt is a very fragile society, with many divisions and fault lines. The military offer a bit of a unifying platform. But many in the country think that their future is going backwards. And unfortunately, we can expect a long period of instability. The military response to instability is authoritarianism. Many people will resent it. But the region cannot afford a chaotic Egypt. Where to strike the balance?