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Political Answers to Questions (On the current events in Egypt and Tunisia)

First: The Events in Egypt

The constitutional declaration was preceded about two weeks earlier by a notable event that had been prearranged, namely the call for the implementation of Shari’ah. The rallies dubbed as “The Friday of Implementing Shari’ah” were held on 9 November and organised by the so-called “al-Hazimoun” movement in reference to Sheikh Hazem Salah Abu Ismail. The domestic and foreign reaction by the secular movements and the Copts was fierce as evident in their spiteful statements. Meanwhile, Hazem Abu Ismail threatened the liberal and secular movements opposing the implementation of Shari’ah with a “flurry of Kandahars, one at night and another during the day, to achieve the implementing of Shari’ah”. He said: “The constitution has become categorically rejected, even without article 2.” Dr. Omar Abdul Aziz said: “We are prepared for Jihad for the sake of Shari’ah. Morsi would become like Mubarak if he did not implement Shari’ah; he who does not implement Shari’ah is Kafir.”

Then the constitutional declaration came on 22 November to cause a widespread uproar headed by the secularists and supported extensively by the Copts. The declarations made by the leaders of the secular parties and movements were remarkably embroidered. In fact, some declarations made by prominent secular figures such as al-Baradei, Hamdin Sabahi and Amr Moussa were so severe to the point where they gave the president no room for manoeuvre: he was made to choose between cancelling the constitutional declaration and resigning. It was also noted that ample space was given to the secular movements to flex their muscles and exaggerate their popularity.

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Civil Unrest in Libya

The change in Libya has been clearly marked by America’s endeavour to drag the European states, under the auspices of NATO, to serve the Greater Middle East Initiative. NATO’s task stipulates protecting the foreign security of the Initiative; by withdrawing from the air strikes, Am erica left the European states in charge of the task, though she is still partaking in the other activities of the Alliance. This is a clear success for the Americans, which the European states perceive; in addition to bearing the cost of the air strikes, Europe is bracing herself for instability in the Mediterranean, which will result in an increase in immigration from Africa. Libya’s lengthening crisis would contribute to the depletion of Europe’s economies - which are already severely strained by a catalogue of crises - due to the successive increases in oil prices and the drop in the production of Libyan oil, which is light and low in sulphur and much coveted by European oil refineries.

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The Political Comment

The Tunisian Prime Minister, Mohammed al-Ghanoushi, formed a new cabinet yesterday after he had inherited the interim throne vacated by the tyrant, Zein el-Abideen, who fled the Islamic lands of Tunisia for good. Zein al-Abideen and his surrogates from among the radical secularists who had embraced the banner of “drying up the sources of Islam”, subjected people to hunger, stripped them of their dignity and fought their Islam with all their might. Their impudence and hatred for Islam and the Muslims drove one of them, namely the minister of religious affairs in the government of Ben Ali, to declare in the Council of Advisors, the second chamber in Tunisia’s parliament, that the “Athan” amounted to “some form of noise pollution”.

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The Political Comment