Sunday, June 1, 2014

A Look ahead: The Sissi Era



by Dr. Reuven Berko


With the reports of Abdel Fattah el-Sissi's presidential election victory in Egypt, the deputy head of the Salafist movement declared it was prohibited to fight against him because he had won the legitimate support of the people. This sentiment reflects the fundamentalist interpretation of the Quran's guidelines, obligating complete obedience to the chosen authority figure, as long as he does not abuse his power and use it against Islam. In general, Islamic tradition prefers a thousand years of exploitation at the hands of a ruler over one day of chaos without governance. The essence of sensitive and authoritative governance was described by Caliph Muawiyah thusly: "If there is even one thread binding me to my fellow man, I do not let it break. If he pulls, I loosen. If he loosens, I pull."
 
In contrast to Muawiyah's ruling style, Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the governor of Iraq during the Umayyad period, had a different approach to governance. Due to his firm and cruel hand, Al-Hajjaj became one of the more famous rulers in Muslim history. He defeated the rebels based in Mecca who had risen against the rightful caliph, and was also appointed governor of the Hijaz (the Mecca region in present-day western Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea). Upon his arrival he told his enemies that he sees "ripened heads" ready for "plucking." He destroyed the uprising and ruled Iraq with an iron fist. Al-Hajjaj subsequently introduced agricultural reforms, built bridges, granted loans to peasants and was instrumental to the development of coinage in the Islamic world. Al-Hajjaj built the city of Wasit, made Arabic an official language and established one legal version of the Quran. Islamic tradition describes him as the person who ended the anarchy in which the people were being exploited by those in power.
 
The situation in the Middle East in general and in Egypt in particular is one of chaos, stemming from the Arab Spring and requiring of a new governmental approach. Sissi's mission is especially difficult because of the objective challenges, primarily those of an economic and social nature, and also because of the violent, uncompromising battle being waged against him by the Muslim Brotherhood. Even though EU supervisors approved the legality of the elections, the Brotherhood claim that Mohammed Morsi is the rightful president and that the election process, in which 44.5 percent of the population participated and granted Sissi 93.3 percent of the votes, is illegal.
 
Alongside the propaganda seeking to negate the legality of Sissi's election win, members of the Muslim Brotherhood are keeping busy. They boycotted the elections, in which the runner-up, Hamdeen Sabahi, received three percent (less than the 3.7 percent of the votes declared void), and are rioting against the forming government. They have initiated a violent intifada that has produced many casualties, along with hunger strikes in prison against the authorities. The riots stem from the claim that over 22,000 Brotherhood activists are imprisoned without trial and are subjected to abuse. The discontent boiled over after Sissi nullified pardons that Morsi had granted to prisoners on death row.
 
In an interview to the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Jarida recently, Sissi commended the security forces and said: "We will not go backwards and there is no time for conflicts and arguments." According to Sissi, his hand is outstretched to all parties and he is determined to accommodate the younger population and its desire for jobs. Sissi, aware of the potential threats to his life, has vowed to wipe out the Muslim Brotherhood and the supporters of global jihad and Hamas in the Sinai Peninsula, and to select "fighters" who will provide security and stability for the average Egyptian demanding solutions "in action, not words." His campaign managers verified the nature of the content, but denied that the Al Jardia interview had taken place.
 
More than anything, as Egypt slips into the abyss, Sissi's need for stability is vital to securing foreign investments and immediate loans from the World Bank. He needs continuous aid from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, which pump immediate oxygen into Egypt's gasping lungs. He needs tourism, an important cornerstone of Egypt's stalling economy, and he must provide security and protection along the Suez Canal and for the gas pipelines in Sinai as other means of income.
 
Sissi needs aid from the West, mainly from the United States, which is currently sitting in the "passenger seat" of history. He would rather foster an image of fair governance, but not at any price, because the Muslim Brotherhood still stands in his path. We must hope that the sanctimonious Americans understand, even if it isn't their desire, that they must help Sissi and save Egypt. In his distress he will be forced to employ the Machiavellian methods of Al-Hajjaj over Muawiyah's "thread binding him to his fellow man." He simply has no other choice.


Dr. Reuven Berko

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=8595

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

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