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ElBaradei’s concerns

The Nobel laureate in Egypt is keeping his fingers crossed.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the top opposition leader, has warned that the upcoming parliamentary elections could lead to more chaos and instability, if the government of Muslim Brotherhood goes ahead with it in the absence of a consensus with the opposition parties. Tongue-in-cheek, he says that it could be a precursor to army’s intervention in politics — thus plunging the country in a renewed phase of uncertainty. The seasoned diplomat-cum-politician could be right in his analysis, but that doesn’t itself solve the problem. The prescription for a faulty democracy is more democracy — and that is what Egyptians are in need of. There may be serious political problems in the draft constitution that has been approved in a referendum but the point is stalling the representative process is no solution to the ills of governance.

The opposition parties can pressurise the government for addressing its grievances in the upcoming elections in order to make it free and fair. President Mohammed Mursi has already invited the opposition for talks on the charter of draft constitution, saying that he is open to suggestions to make the society pluralist in essence. ElBaradei’s call to boycott the elections will hardly help the evolutionary process that Egyptians had attained after a long and lengthy struggle against the dictatorship. The opposition should keep in mind that, however, objectionable the Brotherhood’s mode of governance and legislation may be, it enjoys the support of an overwhelming size of population and that is evident from the 60 per cent vote that the draft constitution bagged. All that needs to be done is to take into confidence the liberals, secularists and Copts who had complained of rising radical trends in the society and government. Elections on schedule will come to strengthen the culture of elected representation.