Egyptian opposition Kifayah movement denies agreement with ruling party

The opposition Kifayah movement's new coordinator-general, Abd-al-Jalil Mustafa, has said that the movement is working on its next moves forwards, including how to re-open dialogue with political and public figures. He denied reports that Kifayah had reached an agreement with the ruling party. Speaking in an interview with a Muslim Brotherhood website, Mustafa also denied that the Brotherhood posed a security threat to Egypt, rejecting the government crackdown on its members and saying that such moves may shorten the life of the "despotic regime". The following is an excerpt from the interview with Mustafa, who succeeded the late Abd-al-Wahhab al-Masiri, by Muhammad Abu-al-Izz, in Cairo, date not given, carried by the Muslim Brotherhood website Ikhwanonline on 8 August; subheadings as published:

[Izz] After you held the post of Coordinator General of the Kifayah Movement, what are your plans to activate the movement?

[Mustafa] I am only a coordinator general. It is all the members who are responsible for the movement. We are in fact, looking into the suitable and appropriate plans to break the deadlock which we are undergoing at the present time. We are also discussing ways and means of how to become involved once again with the Egyptian rank and file, although we have not abandoned the masses, to start with.

The Coordinating Committee has also discussed the plans of political action in the upcoming phase and the upgrading of the functions of the movement by forming a "coalition of Egyptians for Change." The committee also focused on the need for dialogue with public figures, opposition parliamentarians and political parties.

The committee has also decided to prepare for an expanded meeting that would include its members and the representatives, leaders and personnel of the Kifayah Movement in the governorates to discuss the plans of future action.

[Izz] There were reports saying that you have reached agreement with the ruling party to stop involvement with the rank and file in return for your participation as individuals in any plan for the drafting of the future of Egypt.

[Mustafa] These reports are groundless. We have not concluded any agreement with the ruling party. I do not know the source of such reports.

Bitter reality:

[Izz] If we let aside the Kifayah Movement for the time being and discuss the situation in Egypt. The ruling regime has managed in the recent period to tighten its security grip by enacting extraordinary, emergency and terrorism laws and by holding military trials and arrests. Do you believe that this security grip would prolong the rule of despotism and the retreat of liberties which people are anxious to have?

[Mustafa] Despotism will inevitably fall. The universe is built on change and balance. The ruling regime in Egypt is no longer of any use. It has never been fit for anything constructive. A tight security grip, injustice and repression are the factors that shorten the lives of the despotic regime and destroy them.

The MB Group is dangerous!

[Izz] But the regime says that the aim of such measures is to protect the national security of Egypt against the trends that are supported from abroad or from the Islamic currents?

[Mustafa] The regime is here making an unacceptable generalization. Extremism, whether by Islamists or non-Islamists, is unacceptable. The Islamic Movement does not pose any danger to Egypt, as they claim. Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood [MB] Group does not pose any danger to the national security of Egypt. It could pose a danger to certain individuals. Otherwise, it is a popular current in Egypt, but does not constitute any danger to the national security of Egypt. I believe that the Muslim Brotherhood [MB] Group is a safety valve that can defend Egypt against any upcoming imperialist onslaught. How could this national trend constitute a danger to the national security of Egypt? The oppressive measures against the Muslim Brotherhood [MB] Group in particular and against the Egyptian people in general have destroyed the national economy, killed life and public liberty, neutralized the strength of the country and its influence in its hemisphere.

[Izz] From your own point of view, is there a reason for this repression that you have pointed out?

[Mustafa] The regime has realized a long time ago that it cannot survive if the people are the real source of power. Thus it worked hard to stop the people from exercising power, particularly the holding of free elections at any level. The last thing which the regime committed in this regard was the constitutional coup in 2006 which practically excluded the judges from the supervision of the elections because they exposed the systematic rigging of the elections, thereby, enabling the regime to win the majority seats in the People's Assembly to secure the regime's domination of legislation. The men of the regime believe that there are no Egyptians other than their despotic, corrupt group which is fit to rule Egypt. They have even gone as far as seeking to introduce the practice of the transfer of power by inheritance from father to son. [Passage omitted noting that this kind of inheritance is harmful to Egypt]

A new innovation:

[Izz] Do you agree with the view that when the regime failed to confront the MB Group politically, it resorted to the military trials and amended the constitution so as the MB would continue the winning they achieved in the 2005 elections?

[Mustafa] Definitely. There is no disagreement on this. Moreover, trying civilians by military courts is a new, unknown innovation. It is only done by corrupt and despotic regimes. It is unreasonable to believe that the 21st century people still do not know the principle of fair trials. It is a declared fact by the national constitutions and the international charters which defend human rights. This issue harms the State and reveals that Egypt is an oppressed country. [Passage omitted noting that the will of the people will eventually win]

The university is in danger:

[Izz] In your capacity as a member of the 9 March Movement for the Independence of Universities, do you agree with the notion that the role of the university has diminished and could not hold out and protect its independence and the freedom of expression and research?

[Mustafa] The first Egyptian university was established in 1908 and was an ingenuous independent university. In 1925, and in view of the financial pressure on its budget, the university was compelled to accept government intervention in its financing. Naturally, the government sought to impose its domination of the university and harassment of the academic freedom of university professors and students. Since that date, the conflict has been ongoing between the universities and the ruling regime. In fact, government intervention in the administrative, political and security affairs has grown in the last three decades. This is what the intellectuals at the universities have been trying to stop. The public is aware of these facts. [Passage omitted on government excesses committed at universities]

[Izz] Scientific research in Egypt has reached an unprecedented degree of retreat. What is the reason for this?

[Mustafa] Scientific research in Egypt is dead because education in all its phases is controlled by the regime. Thus there is no scientific research or freedom for scientific research in Egypt. Meanwhile, the regime is spending enormous amounts of money on equipment used by the security services for repression and equipment used by the media for the distortion of facts. Had a small amount of this money been spent on scientific research, the conditions of scientific research in Egypt would be different.

[Izz] But there is a large number of scientific research centres in Egypt?

[Mustafa] These are centres where pubic funds are squandered. They have no value. Their presence is a burden on the State.

Source: Ikhwanonline website, Cairo, in Arabic 8 Aug 08