CAIRO - Political observers are evenly divided over whether a military, religious or civil state should rule Egypt after a revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak and his oppressive regime. As the country held a national referendum on constitutional reforms, Yehia el-Gamal, the Deputy Prime Minister, told the opposition newspaper Al-Wafd that a civil state is in the making. "The present Government is working on building a modern civil and democratic state, where all Egyptians will enjoy the rights of citizenship," he stressed. However, el-Gamal, a former law professor, added that the people in such a civil state would be recruited to top posts on account of their competence, not their religion. He appreciated that Egypt's Copts feel angry because they were never given senior governmental posts under the previous regime. "The sectarian strife Egypt is witnessing these days is the outcome of frustration. Under the Mubarak regime, the Copts, who make up 10 per cent of Egypt's population, were never appointed to the top posts," he said, vowing that Christians and Muslims will be treated equally in the civil state. Fakhri Labeeb, a leftist thinker, agrees that a civil state is the best solution for Egypt's problems, warning that if such a state isn't created, the military will go on ruling Egypt. "The military state, like a religious one, will be the only alternative if a civil state isn't established," Labeeb says, adding that a military oligarchy would be a failure for Egypt. "Like the religious people, the military officers do not want change and it is difficult to persuade them of any change the people want to make. Also, members of a theocratic state will find it difficult to accept any different views and will disagree with anyone who opposes their ideas.” However, controversial Islamic thinker Gamal el-Banna disagrees with both el-Gamal and Labeeb. "The time is not yet ripe to introduce a civil state in Egypt, because the people won't understand or appreciate it. Even the term 'civil', like 'secular', frightens them," he explains. El-Banna adds that only the liberal intellectuals, who are a minority, believe in a civil state for Egypt, while the majority of the people reject it. "When the Egyptians are well educated and become enlightened, they will accept a democratic civil state, with no difference between the people who belong to different religions," he stresses. Abdul Sattar el-Mileegy, a Muslim Brotherhood member, says that he is convinced that the members of his group are democratic and non-violent, and accept opposition views. “In a free society, we need independent groups to become participants in power,” a female Muslim preacher says, agreeing with el-Mileegy. Amna Nusseir, a professor of comparative theology at Al-Azhar University, adds that, under religious rule, all people are treated equally, regardless of their religious or ethnic differences. "Under the Charter of el-Madina, introduced by the Prophet Mohamed some 14 centuries ago, Muslims, Christians and Jews, who came from various ethnic backgrounds, lived peacefully together under Islam," she stresses. In the meantime, any form of state still requires sanction from the military. It is important to remember that in Egypt, perhaps more than anywhere else in the Arab world, politics is very much an ad hoc affair that is controlled by the Army. Egypt has no system for renewal; it is home to Arabs, Africans, Islamists, Copts, secularists, coastal dwellers and Upper Egyptians, but lacks an institution to 'emulsify' them. "Egypt needs a genuine constitution. It needs a multiparty political system, a free press, a free society. It needs real NGOs that are not intimidated by the Government," Tharwat Bedawi, a retired law professor, comments.
