Egyptian Chronicles: Thank God that we are not in S.Korea

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Thank God that we are not in S.Korea

There is a democratic political system in South Korea I wish that one day we will have it in our country. Their national assembly on a annually basis must witness violent argument and debates between its members whether men or women that reach to the level of quarrels.

I do not know why I remember this at the same time when I read. what happened in our assembly from last week . Last week the MB members raised their shoes in the parliament during the debates about Gaza with the NDP members. Of course you can imagine the attack on the MB members in the parliament and outside accusing them of being uncivilized..etc to

being agents of Iran. In fact we are lucky that we are in South Korea.
Yes it is inappropriate act in our culture as raising the shoe in front of others’ face is disrespect and this is why the Arab world was happy by Muntader’s shoes because his golden moment summarized what we felt anyhow back to our assembly.
But on the other hand I do not see what the MB members did was more insulting than what the NDP members are doing in the Parliament. In fact the NDP members are insulting us and the assembly more than the MBs and their dirty shoes. With my all respect the NDP members cheat to get in to the assembly , that is more insulting !! In fact this is just the start and no need to go more to the silly plays taken place in out parliament from cooking laws to blindly supporting the regime..etc.
This is not the first time shoes were raised in the assembly in the time of Mubarak,I remember the fight between Talaat El-Sadat and Ahmed Ezz . In fact it is not the first time shoes were raised during the history of the Parliament ; in early 1950s during the time of Monarchy ,the famous Ahmed Hussein , the MP and leader of “Misr El-Fata’a” party also raised his shoe in objection to the support of the majority leader to the king regarding the famous article he wrote “Your majesty, these are your people”*.
By the way we got several important shocking moments in our assembly than those shoes moments , for instance the slap of Wafd MP Talaat Raslan to the late interior minister Zaki Badr in 1980s when the later boosted how his S.S filmed the Wafd party leader Fouad Serg El-Din in his underwear at his palace in Garden city in some hot summer night !! It was a surprising moment many people still remember in Egypt and still admire the courage of late Raslan against one of Egypt’s worst interior ministers ever.
I am not defending the MBs ,they do not need my defend at all but I am tired from this hypocrisy in this country.
*That essay is from the most famous firing articles in the Egyptian modern political history where a journalist widely criticized the ruler in the country , the ruler was King Farouk of course.