Is there a way to end the riots in Egypt peacefully?
Riots have escalated in Egypt all over the country. Initially, the protestors demanded solutions for unemployment and poverty. Later on, some of them demanded an end to President Mubarak ruling the country. The demonstrators shouted against the president and his son Gamal "Oh, Gamal say to your father ALL the nation hates you".
The government initially responded with heavy-handed violence until the demonstrators started burning and causing damage to private and public property as the police become more aggressive. This has resulted in several causalities and deaths on both government and civilian sides.
As a result of the chaos, Egyptian currency and stocks suffered severe losses. In addition, demonstrators continued burning more places, including the main office of the National Democratic Party that represents the government. The government responded by ordering a curfew all over the country and asked the Army Forces to intervene.
The escalation of these events occurred very fast and threatens the stability of the country.
The problem that currently faces the country is that if the Mubarak government collapses, the country can sink into chaos for an unknown period of time.
In such a situation, it will not be surprising if internal divisions within the Mubarak regime may end his control over power so that those who will revolt against him may be perceived as heroes by the protestors and thus can remain in power.
In this critical situation, wise decisions must be made to save the country from an uncontrollable situation. The following are some suggestions that hopefully can bring a peaceful end to this bloody situation - although only in the near-term.
1- President Mubarak MUST address the nation (he has not done so as of the time of writing this Op-Ed) to show demonstrators some respect. This can absorb part of their anger.
2- He needs to give people hope without appearing weak as weakness may actually aggravate the riots. The president MUST clarify to individuals that violence affected the economy negatively and this can make prices of food and other consumer products even higher. The president must welcome peaceful expression of opinion and be clear that there will be zero tolerance of violent demonstrations.
3- The president MUST appoint a Vice President at this stage. Appointing a Vice President who is not hated by the Egyptians can be very helpful to give people some hope for a change in the political situation and can put an end to their anger that is partially related to the inheritance scenario for the presidency that gives power to the son of the president.
4- Defining clear time limits for the government (e.g. 3 months) to take some decisions and active steps to relive extreme poverty in the country. Giving promises without having a time line makes the situation worse as for several decades people have been used to hear lip service without actions from some government officials.
5- President Mubarak MUST declare that he will appoint a special advisory committee for his office at the presidential level. This committee must include leaders of different opposition groups and respected individuals such as Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, and others including those of the Muslim brotherhood (even if he disagrees with their views). This approach may provide some relief and absorb some anger that developed after the recent election when the government nearly controlled every seat in the parliament with no representatives from the opposition. The public will see this as a form of respect to some of their demands which may help in calming the situation.
These short term solutions aims at controlling the current situation until more complex long term solutions such as proper economic reforms to decrease poverty take place.
Tawfik Hamid, www.tawfikhamid.com
Comments