While Egypt's dominant party needs reform, so do others if the general well-being is to be enhanced, writes Abdel-Moneim Said Party congresses are not all about celebration, grooming new leaders, or showcasing new policies, although a bit of that is unavoidable. A party congress is the time to offer the public with a cohesive view of the country's present and future. A party congress is the time to inform the country, and not just disseminate propaganda. The National Democratic Party (NDP) is going to have a three-day congress soon, a congress that will be covered widely in the local and foreign press. And the more substance the NDP puts in its message, the more credible it will look. NDP leaders have been busy preparing for their forthcoming congress, reshuffling offices and writing papers. A list of "achievements" will inevitably be noted during the congress. But those achievements would soon be forgotten, unless the NDP starts interacting more vigorously with the rest of the country. For starters, the NDP needs to select a major topic that is of clear interest to the public, other parties, civil society, and government. I believe that no topic is more worthy of discussion than the elimination of poverty, not only because it is the government's main job, but because the public is obviously interested. It is no secret that the matter of poverty and the poor is something the opposition and anti-NDP groups and movements use constantly to slam the ruling party. Often, the NDP is depicted as biased to the rich and its government as a government for the super affluent. This is a serious charge and the NDP needs to respond to it. The NDP and its government have made genuine efforts to combat poverty in society, with some promising results. But there is a clear gap between public perception and what the government and the NDP say on the question of poverty. This can be due to conflicting data, differences over policies, or sheer propaganda. The NDP congress is the time for the government to explain its view, clarify its position, and clear lingering doubts. The government needs to spell out its position as clearly as it can, and go easy on the rhetoric for once. The congress may turn out to be an opportunity for the government to clear its thoughts on the matter, rethink its ways, and assess existing policies. Another important issue is that of "privatisation" and foreign investment, which have generated much criticism, and not just in the opposition press. Even the national press often accuses the NDP and the government of "selling Egypt" and squandering its assets. I, for one, haven't seen any international report claiming that Egypt is a full-blown free market economy. Actually, Egypt is often depicted as a restricted economy. No one claims that Egypt is moving rapidly on privatisation, or attracting foreign capital at breakneck speed. Even now that Egypt is clearly growing fast and attracting considerable foreign investment, no one is claiming that its policies are drastic. The third issue the NDP needs to discuss is its policy towards the Muslim Brotherhood. This is important not only because the Brotherhood is the main opposition group in the country, but also because its view of the Egyptian state undermines everything we've had so far. There is a gap between our current reality and the future as seen by the Brotherhood, and we need to talk about it. The NDP has to find a more effective option, or consider more than one option, to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood. The NDP has a duty to safeguard the modern Egyptian state. It also has a duty to engage all citizens in the political process. Generally speaking, democracy cannot flourish in this country unless our main political players rethink their ways. The NDP needs to shed the legacy of the socialist union, a legacy that is fraught with intransigence and bureaucratic restrictions. The Muslim Brotherhood -- whether banned or not -- needs to embrace the requisites of a secular state, steer away from the legacy of Sayed Qotb, and opt for something similar to the policies of Turkey's Erdogan. As for the country's pro-democracy parties and movements, they too need to learn how to engage the public more effectively. It can be done, and it should be done. Actually, some effort has already been exerted in this regard, and by the country's three main political currents. If you look at the NDP before and after 2002, you'll see a difference. Perhaps the changes were less than enough for current politicians, but future historians may see them as the start of something. As for the two other currents -- the Islamists and the liberals -- allow me to discuss the cases of Essam El-Erian and Ayman Nour, both now incarcerated. El-Erian is a representative of modern thinking within the Muslim Brotherhood, a man who is willing to converse with other currents in society, engage in dialogue, and explore new ideas. Whenever he appears in public debates or the media, El-Erian comes across as a good listener, a flexible interlocutor, and a man willing to rethink and learn from others. Those familiar with the Turkish political experience would recognise that El-Erian shares many of the attributes of the men who changed Turkey's Islamist scene, steering it away from fundamentalism and stagnation and closer to reform and moderation. Nour ended years of stagnation in the liberal scene in Egypt. Within a short time, Nour was able to reach out to large section of the young generation, a generation that was up to that point either passive in its attitude to public issues or headed for extremism. Before Nour, Wafd-style liberalism was running out of steam. The Wafd depended on its old reputation that had no particular appeal to the young. The founder of the Ghad Party changed all that, breathing life into the political scene. Nour's vitality enticed the Wafd into selecting a new leadership, and it encouraged many undecided members of the public to venture into liberal politics. Thirty years ago, my professor, Boutros Boutros- Ghali, told me that in order for one to be strong and capable, one needs strong and capable people around. In Egyptian politics, the NDP's bid for reform cannot succeed unless reform and revival takes place in other parties and groups as well. This fact is known to many of our politicians, but unfortunately the good ones have a short political shelf life in this country. This is bad, but it's not fate. I am hoping that we're just undergoing a long process of maturity -- longer than anyone had expected.
