A leading Muslim Brotherhood figure says a UNDP report on development is consistent with the group's vision, Dina Ezzat reports Hassan Malek, a leading figure in the parliament majority Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, has said a new report by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on the socio-economic aspirations of the Arab Spring "matches the vision" of the FJP. Speaking on Sunday at a session designed to discuss the report with leftist socio-economic professor Galal Amin and liberal sociologist Saadeddin Ibrahim, Malek said his party was willing to follow the prescription of the UNDP "and in fact is planning to do so". "When Egyptians were chanting 'Dignity, Freedom and Social Justice' during the 25 January Revolution they meant to call for every aspect of freedom including freedom from economic need," Malek said. He added that satisfying the needs for a decent living was essential to fulfilling the call made by Egyptians and other Arab populations for dignity. "When martyr Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire [in Tunisia] he was doing so because his dignity was hurt, not because the vegetables he was selling were thrown away," Malek said in reference to the very first episode of the Arab Spring with Bouazizi's self-emolition. Arab Development Challenges Report 2011 -- Towards the Developmental State in the Arab Region is the title of the over 100-page report that Malek, one of the leading economic minds of the Brotherhood and its FJP, said is offering a roadmap to be followed by Egypt becoming a developmental democracy. "Democracy and economic development are two parallels, as the report suggests and as our party believes," Malek said. Malek agreed with the qualification of the UNDP report regarding the low level of human development compared to what could be based on the income generated in Egypt. He also agreed that for decades Egyptians in general tended to exchange freedom in return for the provision of basic services and goods. Now, Malek said, "our top priority is to invest in human development and to help every citizen contribute to development in Egypt as suggested by the report." Malek also said that his party, in line with the UNDP report, was determined to support economic initiatives of both the private sector and the state to help provide for a vibrant free-market economy that does not sidestep the crucial component of solidarity and social justice. According to Malek "the call for a free market economy, which is a fair call for development, cannot fully exclude the role of the state." Malek said that the call for social cohesion as another crucial development factor, according to the UNDP report, was echoed in the FJP commitment to promote religious ethics which he said are the basis of a strong social cohesion "for all Egyptians -- Muslims and Copts". Malek sounded convinced that the prevailing concept of social cohesion and solidarity, which he attributed largely to religious practices, are set to prevent a revolution of the deprived. "This is why we in the FJP believe that ethics and values are essential to the search of development," Malek said. He promised that the FJP would also apply its set of beliefs in an orchestrated effort to eliminate corruption and injustice which were a trademark of Egypt prior to the 25 January Revolution. The UNDP report argues that essential as it is, democracy is not in and of itself sufficient to meet the socio-economic challenges that bring widescale popular frustration. Blending development and democracy, the report suggests, is the right way forward for Arab countries. The Arab region, the report argues, "is seeking an end to a system marked by the political economy of rentier states and demands a move towards developmental states with commitment to freedom, social justice and human dignity." The authors of the report reminded readers that it was essentially the socio- economic frustration that started the call for reforms in the Arab Spring countries and warned that today not enough attention was being devoted to these matters. "The post-revolution discourse of governments, civil society and the international community is overlooking these issues," the report warns. It adds that a continued marginalisation of socio- economic factors would simply undermine the pursuit of democracy itself. Meanwhile, the report noted that the structural transformations required to enhance the call for the "developmental state" cannot take place overnight. "Time is needed for stable, constitutional and popular governments to emerge and for policy objectives to be properly designed and planned." Therefore, the report suggested that "priority should be given to a package of measures that are attainable within the current regulatory and public administration systems to respond to the demands of Arab people." Addressing the fiscal and monetary policy challenges was essential in this respect, the report adds. Other priorities designed by the UNDP include an end to the lack of transparency and geographical and gender-based marginalisation. All segments of society, men and women alike, across the nation should be motivated to contribute to and benefit from development.
