MERIP
Media Resource List, March 8, 2005
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS on the following topics:
- Egyptian presidential election reform
- Hizballah's role in Lebanon
MOHAMED EL-SAYED SAID
Mohamed El Sayed Said is deputy director of the al-Ahram Center
for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo and a prominent
Egyptian academic who writes for a number of Arab newspapers.
He recently participated with other intellectuals in discussions
with President Husni Mubarak on the need for political reforms.
Commenting on Mubarak's recent proposal of an amendment to
the constitution to usher in multi-party presidential elections
instead of the usual single-party referendum, he said today:
"While the initial reaction to President Mubarak's initiative
was euphoric, that feeling is now fading as supporters of
the president have focused on filling the amendment with unreasonable
conditions. Egyptian society has been forced out of the political
arena for far too long to manage an effective challenge to
existing state structures. Hence, with new and stringent conditions
attached to the amendment, I am not optimistic about the ability
of our political community to make full use of the elections
for change and reform in the immediate future. We have demanded
a much more comprehensive change in the constitution, calling
for amendments to articles 75, 76 and 77, which deal with
presidential powers, length of presidential term and the electoral
process. We have also called for a truly neutral committee
to supervise elections and a whole set of assurances for the
integrity of elections. The real significance of the president's
amendment may only truly become clear in the future."
LARA DEEB
Lara Deeb is assistant professor of women's studies at the
University of California, Irvine. She is a cultural anthropologist
who has spent extensive time researching community activism
in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hizballah is the
most popular political party. She commented today: "The Hizballah-organized
demonstration on Tuesday indicates that Lebanon is by no means
united. At the same time, it is very important to understand
the nuances behind the statement that Hizballah is 'pro-Syrian.'
The party's rhetoric has emphasized 'gratitude' to Syria,
which is not the same thing as calling for Syrian forces to
remain in Lebanon. Indeed, Hizballah is in support of a Syrian
withdrawal according to the Ta'if accords signed at the end
of Lebanon's civil war. Hizballah's position is essentially
one of opposition to the US-sponsored UN resolution 1559 and
opposition to US intervention in Lebanon and in the region.
It also speaks to a deep uneasiness with regard to the potential
for factionalization in Lebanon after a Syrian withdrawal,
an uneasiness rooted in Lebanon's bloody history of sectarian
conflict."
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