The Trouble with Egypt…

It’s been a year since Khaled Said was beaten to death in the entrance of a building near his home by 2 aomanaa shorta, [police personnel], and the uproar following that swelled and divinely built momentum leading to Jan 25 and the events we are living today.

Just one man.. one story.. one year…

RIP

 الفاتحة لروحه و أرواح الشهداء جميعاً [prayer for his spirit and that of all martyrs]…

Khaled Said - 1 Year On: RIP

 

Well Egypt seems to be doing fine at the moment.. rolling along as it takes hit after hit yet manages to keep them all under its belt, allowing each new realization of the unbelievable levels of corruption, to flash across its collective awareness before being relegated to being filed away in a void of ‘corruption memories’.

It seems that between the remnants of the old regime, the counter revolution, the co-conspirators, the hopefuls for a big payday or a slice of the hypothetical pie, the couch potatoes, the baltagiyyas, the naive and the frankly uninterested, Egyptian society would like to declare the revolution finally over so they can get on with life as they know it. Talking about pre & post revolution, like it had really changed something in them or the way Egypt is managed?

From prosecutions that go nowhere, to promises of employment that sound headed for a similar destination, to independent voices being silenced, to the amplification of lines that divide and not truths that unite.

While we watch on. Mindlessly steer on. And we drop like flies, in giant numbers, at every marker further down the road to freedom.

 

Is it really that difficult to understand?

 

We want corruption uprooted from the systems used to govern and direct our lives. That we all become equally responsible and equally accountable. And equally Egyptian.

 
We want an independent judiciary. Not threatened or terrorized by any authority nor favoring any group by any stance or opinion.

We want a swift justice against the tyrants and the corrupt that exemplifies the rule of Law and the distinct change from mistakes of the past. We want the funds they smuggled and those who facilitated it prosecuted if they do not fully cooperate.

 
We want a repeal of the Emergency Law, such that constitutional rights are restored to every citizen.

 
We want a clear, and just, and inspiring constitution, befitting the martyrs for freedom throughout history. Protecting rights and freedom of opinion and expression above all.

We want a Parliament that is the best possible reflection of the aspirations of the masses, elected cleanly, fairly and with transparency, following a mature & informed presentation of available candidates and their positions.

We want the cessation of military or ‘emergency’ trials of civilians.

 
We want every citizen to be made aware & have a say when his/her fate is being decided by the government. So transparency & democracy.

We want all prisoners of thought, opinion & speech freed, and rulings overturned.

 
We want the persecutions and terrorism of Amn Dawla [State Security], Amn Watani [new name lit. National Security] or any similar namesake security arm with an internal function, stopped and all future operations be monitored and authorized by parliament, such that if ‘mistakes’ were to happen again in future, the members of parliament security councils authorizing these actions, as well as the officers and officials involved, are made accountable.

 
We want a just and prudent handling of Egypt’s wealth & opportunities, such that everything is in the books, including all sources of income, aid, and any new form of sanadeeq khasa.[private government treasury chests initiated by any government sector and managed privately]

We want real, powerful, long-term projects that will restore Egypt as an agricultural power and as a center of knowledge and creative power and that engage its youth.

 
We want a minimum wage that guarantees a dignified sustenance to all Egyptians.

We want an overhaul for all the staple aid systems in place, such that most benefit is derived out of least expenditure [and not as a free-for-all corruption and embezzlement bonanza] this especially means the energy sector.

We want a review of all Egypt’s debts & budgets, such that all who have stolen from the people lightly come to realize, as well as everyone else, the gravity of the consequences of their actions.

We want a respectful and honorable security apparatus that is neither sold out nor tainted, which truly serves the people.

We want the baltagiyyas & hired thugs that try to convey this image of chaos to be interrogated and made to point fingers to their patrons.

We want a president [as one kind cabdriver put it- yataqqi Allah feena- who fears God in the way he rules us ], who is not there simply for show or to sell more of us into servitude, but truly representative of the spirit of change and technological aspirations of the revolution.

We want civilian rule instated for the first time in Egypt.

 
We want a review of all our treaties and ‘aid-conditions’ that we as a people may accept what we will and contest and renegotiate what we feel is unjust.

 
And most of all, we never want to be subjected to indignations or insults or physical abuse. EVER. Not by an amin shorta, or a cop, or a ma2mour, not by the Chief of the military, not by the president.

If anything then anyone who’s a part of ‘the system’ should function to elevate the wellbeing, worth and image of Egyptians and not take away from it.

Otherwise Egypt seems to be doing just fine : )