30 June Revolution needs democracy to succeed: El-Sennawy

Nasserist political commentator Abdallah El-Sennawy talks to Ahram Online about 30 June and Egypt's political future

On the first anniversary of Egypt's 30 June mass uprising, Nasserist journalist and political commentator Abdallah El-Sennawy – who participatedin the anti-Muslim Brotherhood mass protests in 2013 – talked to Ahram Online about the prospects of Egypt's current political transformation.
El-Sennawy supported President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's bid for power, despite being close to his only contender in the presidential race: Nasserist politician Hamdeen Sabahi. El-Sisi was the head of the military when it led the popularly-backed move to oust Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi from power.
To El-Sennawy, 30 June saved Egypt from an ill fate.
The corrective revolution
For El-Sennawy, 30 June was – as many have described it – a "corrective revolution" to 25 January, which he sees as having been hijacked by the Brotherhood, a widespread view among mainly non-Islamist supporters of the 25 January uprising against Hosni Mubarak.
30 June represents Egypt's salvation from what El-Sennawy describes as the Brotherhood's incompetent rule, their plans to rule using medieval methods – he cites their efforts to constitutionalise the rules of Islamic law as a source of legislation – and attempts to seize state institutions, instead of seeking to achieve the goals of the 25 January 2011 revolution.
He believes Egypt's recently amended constitution is the country's greatest achievement, reflecting the spirit of 25 January, establishing a democratic system for Egypt and safeguarding the rights of its citizens.
The constitution began as an amendment to the charter approved during Brotherhood rule and was then overhauled by a 50-member constitutional committee. The amendments removed conservative articles enshrined by the Brotherhood and their Salafist allies in 2012 and reinforced basic freedoms.
The charter achieved overwhelming approval in a January referendum, billed by officials as the first stage of a roadmap put forth by the army and political forces opposed to the Brotherhood after Morsi's ouster.
While El-Sennawy feels it's still too early to gauge the success of the second part of the roadmap – the presidency – he believes the document lives up to the hopes of 25 January.
Despite this, El-Sennawy is keenly aware that writing a good constitution and its implementation can be very different things.
Apprehension
El-Sennawy fears the constitution may end up as merely "ink on paper," using the Egyptian expression for a law that isn't followed. The writer acknowledges the apprehension many Egyptians are experiencing due to developments in the political sphere.
These include the reappearance ofMubarak-era figures in the public sphere – despite El-Sisi's promise that the days of the former regime are over – and an ongoing conflict between youth and the state since a strict protest law was passed in November. Another source of discomfort is people's trust in state institutions, which peaked on 30 June but has since dwindled due to doubts over their independence.
"A regime – the Mubarak regime – has fallen, but another wasn't built and so being worried is very normal," El-Sennawy says, adding that the tumultuous events overtaking the country – including two transitional periods and a year under Morsi riddled with clashes and conflict – would leave anybody, from any country, apprehensive.
"Egyptians want a strong state. They want a strong police force, but one that doesn't strangle their freedoms. They want a strong judiciary, but one that doesn't overstep the rights of citizens. They need the economy to recuperate, but not at the expense of social justice. They want to be open to the world, but not be at the mercy of US interests in the region."
El-Sennawy says that these fundamental aspirations for the revolution can create well-founded worries when one realises that the new regime has not yet crystallised.
"It's too early to judge now," El-Sennawy says. However, he remains uneasy about two particular developments in the political situation.
Undermining 30 June
Egyptians' won't trust a new regime unless the government tries to achieve the aspirations of 30 June. But El-Sennawy's observations tell him there is no action plan in place so far:
"Egypt is in need of a national salvation plan. While El-Sisi's promises were many – including freedom and moving towards social justice – there seem to be no clear policies adopted by the authorities so far."
For example, El-Sisi has ordered government ministers to be at their offices starting at 7am every day. But what, he wonders, are they going to be working on when they arrive so early?
If promises aren't implemented, then they are empty, he says.
The other issue El-Sennawy believes would be a serious setback to 30 June is if the coming parliament is a replica of ones under Mubarak.
A new parliamentary elections law replaced open, proportional lists present the previous legislative elections with closed and absolute party lists which will only elect 20 percent of seats in the House of Representatives. The rest of the seats will be filled by an individual candidacy system.
Almost all groups at the forefront of the 30 June protests rejected the law, arguing that it would bring about the scenario that El-Sennawy fears: creating an old regime-style legislature by giving the upper hand to Mubarak-era businessmen, patronage networks and interests to determine the outcome of the elections.
"Marginalising or dismissing political parties means dismissing political expression, which means dismissing democracy, which amounts to cancelling the country's constitutional framework," El-Sennawy says.
A party-less parliament would divest the House of Representatives of politics, forcing it to be contested in the conflict-ridden streets where terrorist attacks are still taking place, he says.
Another effect, he suggests, is that the government (chosen by parliament) would be rendered as an administrative office to the presidency. The representativeswould hand themselves to the president as Mubarak's MPs did and refrain from carrying out one of their main functions: oversight.
El-Sennay concludes with an ultimatum: Egypt has no choice but to implement its constitution and move towards a democratic system.
The alternative would lead to crisis, he says.
"This [the absence of parties from politics] would seriously undermine the legitimacy of 30 June."
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