CAIRO: US aid to Egypt, licensing religious parties, supporting Tahrir protests and Egyptians voting abroad were the core issues discussed in a forum titled "Egypt from Tahrir to Transition" organized by the faculty of economics and political science at Cairo University Wednesday. The forum was a reflection on a poll recently conducted by the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center where attendees voted on controversial issues raised by the poll results. While 66 percent of the audience voted against US financial aid to the Egyptian government, 73 percent voted for licensing religious parties, 78 percent supported the continuation of Tahrir protests as means of pressure, and 90 percent supported the voting of Egyptians living abroad. Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center and Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, said that Egyptians overwhelmingly oppose the US aid to political groups in their country; this is especially the case among those who look to America as a political example. "The most important question we have to ask is that do we need an aid-dependent economic system? Do we need our economy to be directed according to the prescriptions of IMF and the World Bank?" asked leftist activist Wael Khalil in the panel. "We need an economy based on human development that is adjusted to the people's needs not to the strategies of the donors," he said. The Gallup poll showed that 70 percent want Islamic law principles to be implemented but without the interference of religious figures who can have only a "consulting role." Activist and member of the No to Military Trials Campaign Mona Saif said she is against banning or eliminating any party from practicing politics or from the democratic process even if it has a religious background. "As long as religion is not used as means of racism and hatred then it is ok, and even if this happened, judiciary will be the final judge against any violations," she said. Researcher and writer Sarah Khourshid agreed with Saif, citing the experience of the Republican Party in the United States and the Christian Democratic Union in Germany led by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "The answer depends on what we mean by religious parties. If we mean parties controlled by religious figures then that definitely has to be rejected, but parties that use a religious background should have the right to participate in the process." Khourshid said. The poll results also showed that 83 percent respondents supported the revolution, refuting what has been said that protesters around the country reached only 15 million, while the remaining silent majority did not support it. "Bottom-up pressure proved to be the most effective way to achieve the demands of the revolution, so supporting Tahrir protests have to continue until all demands are met," said activist and blogger Mahmoud Salem. Salem added that the continuous labor strikes are increasing due to the government's reluctance to execute economic policies favorable to lower classes of the society. "There is no clear economic policy to support poor sectors of the society or small and medium projects, even if the minimum wage set at LE 700 is not enough." All panelists agreed that the right of Egyptians abroad to vote should be granted as many of them traveled because they had no hope for change before the revolution, which should not deprive them the right to participate in forming their country's future. "But we have to openly discuss the ways by which they will vote especially in parliamentary elections which seems to be complicated." said Khalil.
