Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The

author argues

that due to the issue of democracy, Sa‘d al-Dīn Ibrāhīm, a

professor of Sociology

at the American University in Cairo, became one of the regime’s enemy. In

recent years, the regime’s

propaganda succeeded in raising doubt about Ibrāhīm’s

patriotism by accusing him of being “a man

of the Americans.” An accusation that Ibrāhīm did

not deny but rather asserted and said on many

occasions, that the regime could be considered the same as it

strictly carries out U.S. orders in its policies and

economy.

In an interview on the U.S.

Administration’s stance towards Mubārak regime and the

probability that Jamāl,

Mubārak’s son, assumes the presidency by ’’inheritance,’,

Ibrāhīm

said that the U.S. plays an important role in the formation of Egyptian policies since the

latter began

receiving U.S. aid regardless of what the regime claims of its independence and sovereignty. At the

same

time, it prohibits any party members to contact Americans and accuses those who do so of being an American

agent.

Regarding political reform, Ibrāhīm said that the regime succeeded in

alleviating U.S.

pressure by convincing the Bush administration that political reform now would likely help

Muslim Brotherhood

ascend to power.

Concerning the would-be successor to President Mubārak,

he said that the regime

eradicates any potential competitors to Mubārak’s son, such as Ayman

Nūr and Tal‘at al

-Sādāt [Reviewer: they are now in prison, widely believed

to be due to their political activities]

who enjoyed popularity among Egyptians. He believes that the

regime uses political reform to show Jamāl as a

reformist to boost his popularity.

He said

that Americans asked him to nominate a would-be successor to

President Mubārak. They questioned him

about Ayman Nūr [Reviewer: former head of al-Ghad Party],

Rashīd Muhammad Rashīd

[Reviewer: the minister of foreign trade and industry], Ahmad Maghrabī

[Reviewer: minister of

housing], Tārik Kāmil [Reviewer: minister of mass communications],

Usāmah al-

Ghazālī Ḥarb [Reviewer: editor-in-chief of al-Siyāsah al-

Dawlīyah

magazine], Husām Badrāwī [Reviewer: a key member of the National

Democratic Party,

businessman and one of the owners of the Badrāwī hospital], and Ahmad Nazīf.

They also

asked about the power of the Muslim Brotherhood, especially the moderates among them such as

‘Abd al-Mun‘im Abū al-Futūh and Muhammad

Habīb.

Ibrāhīm

focuses his attention on articles No. 76 and 77 of the

constitution for their importance in regulating presidential

elections and the presidential term. He

believes that political reform will be useless in the absence of free

elections and a determined term. He

also supports article No. 88 which states that elections shall be conducted

under the supervision of

members of a judiciary organ.