During the Egyptian Family Iftar banquet in Ramadan, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi announced launching a comprehensive political dialogue that involves the wide spectrum of society, extending his personal support to the dialogue and promising to attend a number of its sessions.
This wasn’t the first time President Al-Sisi touched on this subject. In late April and during the President’s visit to Toshka, he referred to the imminent launch of the dialogue. However, this time, the President’s announcement was more detailed, accompanied by several decisions relating to the economy, human rights issues, and civil work.
When the invitation for this national dialogue was affirmed, it became clear that national dialogue is high on the presidential agenda and a priority for the government, contributing to setting the tone of many issues at this critical juncture.
At the end of 2019, during the World Youth Forum (WYF) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt was on the verge of launching a national dialogue. Back then, there had been proposals brought forward pertaining to the Egyptian project transitioning to the so-called “exceptional foundation period”. With the Egyptian project making real achievements and opening promising prospects, the state was in need of further impetus derived from political reform that satisfies the ambitions of the different shades of public opinion, who throughout the period of economic and institutional reform were dissatisfied with the government’s disregard for this file. Strikingly, the majority of this spectrum have placed their trust in President Al-Sisi and his regime, given the courage they have seen from President Al-Sisi in addressing stalled issues over the past years and the credibility he enjoys that qualifies him to carry out structural reforms.
But, out of nowhere, Covid-19 hit the world in early 2020, which required Egypt, just like all countries of the world to mobilize all of its efforts to reduce as much as possible the magnitude of the pandemic’s repercussions and maintain the gains that didn’t have the time to stabilize and prosper. Perhaps, this exceptional circumstance has inadvertently caused the political reform to receive less priority against other inevitable and urgent pathways.
However, against the pandemic, the Egyptian comprehensive project proved its ability to withstand and respond to the crisis, having a robust system that can absorb such global shocks. Today, facing a similar global crisis, it needs additional support and capacity strengthening.
No longer had the Egyptian project –just as other major national projects–started recovering from Covid-19 that it was faced by another dilemma with complex and intertwining repercussions. Anyhow, engaging in the comprehensive dialogue today maybe more important than ever without us losing the compass that guides the modern state project with which the vast majority of the people are aligned.
In many respects, the visible cloud of repressed distress and rage is indicative of the blurry vision that some people have of where we are today. This is what the government perceived only two months after the Ukrainian crisis when its development efforts were assailed to the extent that its priority which was once undisputed was seen as the cause of this global crisis. This necessitated a response from the Prime Minister, Dr. Mustafa Madbouly, who, when President Al-Sisi gave him the floor during the Egyptian Family banquet, carried blame for the public opinion. In his word, Madbouly was keen to remind his audience of where the government has begun, listing, for instance, the challenges that face Haya Karima (Decent Life) project and pledging to stand in the face of all of these challenges and provide funding that ensure implementation plans are not disrupted or the quality of what is being accomplished on the ground isn’t affected.
Today, executive agencies all over the world –and the Egyptian government being no exception– are faced with highly concerned populations as the bill of needs is burdening everyone. Ironically, when it comes to Dr. Madbouly and his government, we find that during the Covid-19 crisis, he and his cabinet have been acclaimed by those who are angry at him today. Back during the pandemic crisis, the public opinion witnessed the success of the government’s economic reform and digital development program which President Al-Sisi backed in 2016, 2017, and 2018 until the government’s resilience became more intense, enabling it not only to absorb risks but to create new paths to recovery on which huge bets were placed.
As such, between this growing concern and that wide acclaim, there emerges the significance of conducting a comprehensive political dialogue. These vicissitudes of popular support represent the core of the political process and dialogue on policies remains beneficial as long as everyone believes in the national project of the state.
With this call for political dialogue, Egyptians will be facing the future. The Egyptian people, with what they have achieved over the past few years, deserve to look ahead with greater trust and mobilize their energy for reform, which can only be realized through transparent dialogue that brings together eminent minds under the umbrella of a regime that pushed through reforms since day one, a deeply entrenched trait that I believe the regime will never abandon.
This article was originally published in Al-Ahram newspaper on Saturday, 30 April 2022.
