Sometimes You Need To Slap More Than To Denounce
Many Egyptians remember when Zaki Badr ,the infamous notorious minister of interior was slapped surprisingly and powerfully in the heart of the Parliament in 1987 by a Wafd member and it happened as followed : Badr rudely and shamelessly stood in the historical hall showing on a projector the photo of Fouad Pasha Serg El-Din1 sitting comfortably in his underwear drinking lemonade in his garden city villa’s porch and in front of him a fan before calling him names2 !! The message he wanted to send to the opposition which was headed by Al Wafd then that the regime would expose and scandalize you !! In his pathetic moment of triumph in front of the representatives of the Egyptian people a Wafd MP called Talaat Rasalan came to him unexpectedly and slapped him while reminding him in a loud voice that “Homes have got sanctity , you son of ****” , of course Badr did not stop he took off his shoe and tried to hit him with it and it was chaos.
I remember this famous incident while following the current discussion about Laila ElBaradei’s photos in the press .I did not want to speak about the matter despite I know about it since day one because I did not want to spread it in order to give the regime what it wants but it is no use to ignore it now.
With no introductions we found unknown group headed by some girl exposing the so called dirty secret of ElBaradeis showing personal photos for Laila ElBaradei on the beach wearing a swimsuit and during her marriage from her British husband besides of course photos for her and her parents sitting in some event where there are some wine bottles, photos for her Facebook profile showing her religion as agnostic and the big shock : photo for her cute little daughter with her granddad in the swimming pool !!
It was an obvious regime attempt to hit ElBaradei using his daughter , playing the emotions of our people in Ramadan , it was something expected , in fact I did not realize that Dr. ElBaradei did not expect this knowing how dirty and desperate the regime is ; may be because he did not think there was nothing wrong , well there is nothing wrong for sure but some things can be twisted and be very damaging to him and his call , we are speaking about politics and public service , there is no privacy when it comes to political opponents and it happens everywhere.
The timing was interesting as I hinted before , at the same time ElBaradei returns to the country and Omar Soliman’s posters ; in fact next day the whole world was speaking about Soliman’s posters in the heart of Cairo , we found the photos of ElBaradei’s daughter in 2 or 3 printed newspapers aside of online news portals.
ElBaradei addressed the matter directly but in a very diplomatic way , I hope he will not stop at this because it is not about bunch of photos in Bikini.
The MB group was the first to address the issue with their statements denouncing the regime’s dirty move.The NDP has denied any involvement and rejected this behavior ,the NAC has decided to take legal action against this smear campaign.
Traveller Mohamed spoke about this matter , you should read what he wrote.
Also you should read this very smart and sarcastic in Masrawy’s Op-ed “What if ElBaradei becomes the President ??”
Up till now the comments and reactions of the people online was encouraging as they ignored all these attempts but the people online are a thing and the people offline are another thing. People are busy in Ramadan and in Camilla’s disappearance but I am sure that the Salafi TV channels will air special shows on this.
Dr. ElBaradei must address the matter in more effective way than this , he needs to slap this immoral regime.
Notes
1. He was once a minister of interior in Al Wafd cabinet in 1951
2. Believe or not Al Wafd was then a real party the regime worked hard to destroy.
Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Democracy,Follow up,National,Politics,Photos,Mohamed ElBaradei,Laila ElBaradei,Presidential elections 2011,Media,Facebook,Mideast,religion,society
What is Al-Baradei's political programme?
ReplyDeleteDr.ElBaradei wants to change certain constitution amendments in order to ensure having a real democratic presidential elections.
ReplyDeleteOK - so it's about making the changes in order to have a more democratic system of governance - as opposed to comprehensive economic plans etc...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification.
Who to blame for the photos ???? The regime is too weak and too stupid to be behind such plots ... Anyhow , believe it or not as the majority are muslims those photos are not acceptable for most of them.
ReplyDeleteBy the way , all what ElBaradei is selling to us is the political reforms , he didn't say anything about his vision , his priorities , his budget plane ( all the data of the annual national income is available ) .... And before , you jump to conclusions I think that Mubarak regime should end but it is about time to pick the right person .
what comprehensive economic plans you are referring to ?? Can you please enlighten me because I can't see any useful economic plan the Mubarak has ever done in the last 29 years !!??
ReplyDelete@Anon: El Baradie believes, like many of us that unless there are fundamental changes to the constitution and some basic laws nothing will really change. In other words, like many of us he believes the only solution is in brining back the rule of law. The man made it clear hes not in for the presidency per se, so, I dnt get why ppl like you keep on asking about his plans ect. Its as if you have a run down house and you are thinking about the decorations instead of how you will rebuild the house frames!!
ReplyDeleteGreat, since you agree this regime must end, then why arent you signing the 7 demands bec nothing there is about electing El Baradie but its all about constitutional reforms, which I take it you agree to as well.
As for your conclusion about the photos, Im afraid you know nothing about how those running this country for years, actually think and act. This is in fact their tried style but this time it blew up in their faces you know how I know from readers comments below the news, the fact is the majority stood by protection of ones privacy and that ones personal religious believers arent what matters and that someone who might not be as religious is better than a corrupt person who pretends to be religious. One more thing, his son in Law is a Muslim, a fact known to so many Egyptians in the U.K. and a fact that was confirmed by BBC radio a couple of days ago and the profile is fake bec no real facebook profile can be in two languages.
Last but not least, Id love to hear your thoughts about that "right person".
The Photo
Well the same thing went to Mubarak's son when he gave birth to his daughter in England which half of the high classed people do as well, so the same thing goes for both it's a dirty game and sorry we have to accept seeing personal stuff in politics, I don't think that Anonymous 2 had mention anything about Mubarak's plan or it's support or his support to his regime but actually he tackled an extremely important point which is choosing the right person.
ReplyDeleteConcerning the pictures they're not a big issue for me as a huge criteria of Egyptian girls would be caught with swimming suits so duh??
but what really concerns me is the wine, you know it wasn't forbidden for nothing I would always think of a president or a Guevara making life decisions with wine in his hands and being 9/10 conscience which makes me fell insecure...
If it was the NDP that I'd raise the Chapeau for their intelligence and following the right book in politics believe me that's how it goes, It's so stupid of El-Baradie not to close the leaks that would destroy his reputation he's a politician whom had dealt with the dirties politician in the world and they did more than that to others, and For God people still didn't wake-up from the "foreigner" illusion and this verifies it...
Remember it's the panadol that the NDP takes to stop a moskito's headache cuz again what baradie's doing reminds me of the "Mate2darsh" theory in Mohammed Sobhy's play...
I'm not Egyptian and I ask because I'd like to increase my understanding.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Economist's special issue on Egypt, Egypt's economy isn't doing too badly...
I believe the economy is at the heart of governance that's why I asked whether Baradei has any economic policy.
@Anon before last:
ReplyDeleteSure, the same applies with Gamal, with one difference, what is written about him is most of the times correct. I didnt like it that some papers talked about his wife but I do understand how his own actions were calling for it. Problem with NDPians is that they "pretend" to be all Egyptian and all about traditions. Fact is, particularly those up in the chain arent. Its well known how drinking is the norm and this goes all the way up the chain. Im not saying its ok for El Baradie to drink but Im saying ppl are picking up on an issue that is already existing for present and past high figures.
Why are you assuming he didnt knw smthng like that wont be used against him? This man has been in politics for so long he knows and gets trained about such tricks. The fact they resorted to this means one thing they have nothing on him and they cant respond to his thoughts. I think they will end up loosing from this dirty tricks and you can check the reaction of more than 80% of readers comments and even Adeebs show and manshet show, all discussing the photos. The majority made it clear it wont make a difference bec at least he aint corrupt and thats wt matters.
If he was a mosquito they woldnt be fighting him so hard. I think differently on that point, the fact that they are resorting to strong verbal reactions and such dirty tricks means they are frightened and means that probably reports they have show growing response among the ppl to the call for change and reform. If he manages to convince all parties not to participate in the elections, the regime wont have legitimacy and will be an easier target for internal and international pressure for reform.
@Last Anon: What you found out is true and puzzling. I discussed it with some friends studying business and we all dnt get it. What matters and is reported too is that this economic reform is only felt by less than 1% of the society. The economy and business life in Egypt is dominated by a handful of families and figures with close ties to the presidents family, rumored sometimes to be their own screen. Economic performance isnt sufficient, we are doing terrible on major social issues and just had massive electricity, gas, wheat and bread problems. We also have very high % of sick ppl, with grave diseases especially cancer and the health care is terrible and most cases are paid for by our own donations. We pay high taxes, all pay the same including those with billions and yet we get few services in return. That is the reality, check figures on education, health care, salaries, safety, freedom of speech ect.
Isn't Egypt an historically socially stratified society?
ReplyDeleteAren't Egypt's problems a simple matter of numbers - too many people, too little liveable land and water?
Are you suggesting a socialist economic program for the re-distribution of wealth in Egypt?
Isn't Baradei part of the same Presidential class himself?
This is in no way taking away from the issues of good governance that should be tackled and improved in Egypt.
@Z, If you literally mean that a photo of a grand daughter and grandfather swimming in a pool is shocking, then Egypt is a strange place. Or was there something special about it that made it shocking?
ReplyDeleteI was laughing Jason,the shocking photos were Laila's
ReplyDeleteThanks, Z. I see Fark covered this and has the pics. It's not even a bikini, just an unremarkable one-piece swimsuit.
ReplyDelete