CAIRO: What do Egypt's secular forces hope for in the forthcoming period? Not secularism, one might be forgiven for thinking, judging from their programs and the speeches of candidates and activists. There is no shortage of politicians and parties with an essentially secular outlook, but the word ‘secularism' itself is rarely spoken. Basem Kamel, a candidate in North Cairo for the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, part of the Egyptian Bloc electoral alliance, told Bikyamasr.com why his party doesn't use the term: “We don't like using the word ‘secular' here in Egypt. People think it means atheistic, which is not true, but it's become a word of ill-repute. We use the word ‘civic', ‘civic state' is better than ‘secular state'. ‘Civic' means we're against a religious state, and against a military state. They're both harmful.” The ESDP is one of a number of Egyptian parties, which declare themselves in favor of a civic state. These parties emphasize the building of effective state institutions, the rule of law and the equality of all citizens. They are mostly concentrated in two electoral alliances: the Egyptian Bloc and The Revolution Continues. The Egyptian Bloc includes the ESDP, the Free Egyptians Party founded by businessman Naguib Sawiris, and the smaller Tagammu party, the remnant of the official left-wing opposition party formed in the 1970s under President Anwar el-Sadat. The Free Egyptians Party program sets out its vision of a secular state without ever using the term: it calls for “the separation of religious affairs from matters of state administration”, the rule of law, and the complete equality of all citizens. It takes care to provide an impeccable antecedent for this, quoting the program of a political party founded in the late nineteenth century by the renowned religious and political reformer Muhammad Abduh. The unabashedly leftist program adopted by the Popular Socialist Alliance also displays atypical reticence when it comes to speaking about secularism. The PSA's program calls for a united secular state in all of Palestine, but when it comes to Egypt it too prefers the term ‘civil'. A party official told Bikyamasr.com that the situations in the two countries could not be compared; in the Egyptian context, with only two religions, it made more sense to speak of a civil state. The parties in The Revolution Continues include the PSA, which as the only registered party in the alliance has had the advantage over its allies in the sharing out of positions on the group's electoral lists, as well as the Egypt Freedom Party founded by Amr Hamzawy, the Equality and Development Party led by actress and activist Taysir Fahmi, and the Egyptian Socialist Party. These all tend to secularism. Also in the bloc is the Egyptian Current Party formed by former Muslim Brotherhood youth activists, with a left-leaning and moderately Islamic program. These electoral blocs are essentially tools for fielding successful slates of candidates for the parliamentary seats that will be elected by the list system. They are not seen as long-term political alliances, and parties in different blocs sometimes have more in common, ideologically, with each other than with their respective allies. The positions of Basem Kamel and the Free Egyptians reflect the main demands of the country's secular forces. They resist any attempt to Islamicize the country's political system, while not necessarily opposing the existing references to Islam in the current constitution. They emphasize the value of citizenship and the equality of all Egyptians regardless of religion, region of origin, sex or class. Secularism, whether by name or otherwise, is not the only element in these parties' programs, and perhaps not even the most prominent one. The parties are divided in ideology, with the Free Egyptians and Egypt Freedom Party unashamedly liberal, calling for a market economy where the state's main role is as a regulator and provider of public services and social security. The Egypt Freedom Party also puts much emphasis on decentralization and effective local democracy. The Popular Socialist Alliance, by contrast, has a traditional socialist outlook, with much emphasis on the public sector. It recognizes a role for the private sector, but clearly a secondary one. The Egyptian Social Democratic Party falls between these poles, calling for a social market economy in the European social-democratic tradition. For the ESDP, the role of the market must be balanced by a state role in key economic sectors, not just in a regulatory capacity. But if their programs pay particular attention to economic policy, decentralization and such issues, there is no doubt that for some of these parties at least, their real ideological battle is indeed with the Islamists. That much has become clearer than ever in the recent controversy over the constitutional principles document proposed by deputy prime minister Ali Selmy. The document was to be the basis on which the new constitution would have to be drafted following the parliamentary elections. The Free Egyptians and the ESDP were both in favor of the document once it had been amended to remove some provisions giving the army political privileges. The proposals were virulently opposed by the Islamists, who claimed that it represented an attempt to pre-empt the people's will. The liberals, in turn, suspect the latter of hoping to impose a more Islamic constitution through a parliament in which they may have a majority. Yet, there are also Egyptian secularists who may be happy to speak about secularism, but for whom it is not a priority at the moment. Many of the activists in the revolutionary groups are secular-minded, but they largely prefer to keep ideology out of their political activities. Their main concern is completing the goals of the revolution – which at the moment means the transfer of power to civilian rule, the end of military trials for civilians, and so forth. In this choice of battle they are closer to the Islamists than to the liberal political parties, as their participation alongside the Islamists in the November 18 demonstrations for the handover of power suggested. One prominent figure from this end of the political spectrum gave Bikyamasr.com an outline of his thinking. Ahmad Seif, a left-wing dissident from Sadat's time on and now a prominent human rights activist, asked about his broad aspirations for the new Egypt – before the recent upheaval in Cairo last week – told us: “I think you are asking the wrong person. Because I don't care about the result of the election. I focus on a fair election, and I will accept any result of this election, because this is the first time there is an opportunity for ordinary people in Egypt to speak in their own voices and to choose what they want. “So I will accept their choice and try to affect the next choice, helping them or trying to help them to discover by their direct experience, how they can build their criteria to correct their choice. So… this is a matter of time… My hope is that the Egyptian people would react as the Tunisians did, they will choose as they want but they will not give the power to one political group.” And asked about longer term prospects, Seif insisted that political change would be a slow process: “My expectation is it will take around 15 years. So we must wait, and participate, and try to learn from our mistakes more than from our success.” BM
