Baradei: The people are ready, Egypt is hungry for change
Egypt faces Iran-style protests if government fails to heed calls for reform, former IAEA chief warns.
By The Associated PressThe ex-U.N. nuclear chief who has emerged as an opposition leader in Egypt urged the government Saturday to respond to peaceful demands for change, cautioning it could face a popular uprising if it doesn't.
Mohamed El-Baradei, who returned to Cairo a week ago to a hero's welcome by supporters who see him as a possible rival to President Hosni Mubarak in next year's elections, said that he hopes to create a peaceful public movement pressing for electoral reforms.
"You have seen how much support I got even before I set foot in Egypt," Baradei said in an interview in the garden of his home on the outskirts of Cairo. "It shows that people are ready, I would say even hungry for change. But this is still something that has to take roots and has to spread to different parts of the country."
When asked if Egypt's government could face protests like those that broke out in Iran, he said he hopes to avoid that but it was ultimately up to the ruling system.
"It is inevitable that change will come to Egypt. What I'm trying to do is pre-empt a point of clash between the government and the people," he said.
"I hope the government will understand that you don't want for people to reach a point of desperation," he added. "What I am preaching right now, if you like, is peaceful change by everybody. If the government subscribes to that, I think all the better."
Baradei, 67, was coy about whether he plans to run in the 2011 presidential vote, saying that was not his primary goal. Instead, he said his main focus is drumming up support for his efforts to promote change and rallying the public as well as fellow opposition leaders behind his campaign.
He said it will be a long term process that requires educating people about basic rights and freedoms.
"My primary goal is to create the conditions for a truly democratic political system," he said.
Existing restrictions make it practically impossible for independents to run, meaning that Baradei's chances are dim without long-sought constitutional amendments. But his supporters see the former Egyptian diplomat as the most credible opposition leader to emerge in a U.S.-allied country ruled for nearly three decades by Mubarak.
Baradei, who has begun forming a coalition with other opposition leaders, said he plans to launch a Web site to collect signatures from the public with a list of demands to present to the government.
Hassan Nafaa, the coordinator for the new group, said the demands included changing the constitution to enable independents and new party candidates to run in the presidential election and lifting emergency laws that have been in force for nearly three decades. The petition is the first phase, and protests are another option being considered by the group, Nafaa said.
ElBaradei - who won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize and left his Vienna-based post as director general International Atomic Energy Agency late last year - said he hopes his movement will have a snowball effect.
"There is nothing more powerful than an idea that people believe in... The only power I have is the power of argument, the power of ideas," he said.
Opposition movements have failed to gain momentum in the past as the regime - backed by long-standing emergency laws - frequently jails journalists, pro-reform activists and political opponents.
Established opposition groups also have been weakened by an aging leadership and lack of a popular base.
Supporters hope that Baradei, a civilian with international stature and untouched by corruption tainting the Egyptian system, will be able to seize the momentum and build a following to force the government to change.
Since his return, ElBaradei has met various groups at his house. He met with youth representatives who initiated a petition calling on him to run for presidency. Over 100,000 people have joined a Facebook group supporting his candidacy.
He also met with women representatives and the Arab League's Secretary General Amr Moussa at his office, whose name was also floated by reformists looking for a possible rival to Mubarak.
Since taking office in 1981, Mubarak has not named a successor and never had a vice president but he is believed to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him.
The initial constitutional amendments were seen as paving the way for father to son succession.
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Former IAEA chief Mohammed El-Baradei. |
| Photo by: (AP) |
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Your contribution is heaven sent . It will permit people on the other side to see who and what we are up against . You demean yourself, your country and the military with what you have said . We are quite ready for you , and yes kill him if you must as this will only strengthen the resolve and the fearsome reaction and you will follow next.
If I may participate a second time , my dear fellow you were unable to hide your origins with some things you said and your errors but there you are you and your National Democratic Party want to start a scaremongering campaign to rally uninformed Israeli support with silly allegations .Israeli leaders are too well informed to be influenced by the likes of you .
You are so close but totally out of touch with the situation in Egypt. The people behind him are like myself secular and middle class and are fed up with corruption , nepotism and subjugation for almost 60 yrs since the overthrow of the monarchy by illegitimate means. Yes he must make deals with the muslim brotherhood without them sharing in government just as your prime ministers make coalition deals with Shas or Isr. Beiteinu but there will be NO deals with Hamas or Hezbullah who are known . The natural allies of Barad3i will be members of Mubarak's own party and the so called members of parliament who support him and who will desert him to join the popular movement if it gathers the required strength from the populace as after all the middle classes need their presence , backing and muscles in the street. As far as Israel is concerned , it would be worse if in 5-10 yrs time there were instead a Hamas style takeover with religious extremists. Merit comes from playing a poor hand well
One of the reasons he has turned into a rallying point for the Egyptian populace is that he has a track record of not caving in to US pressure, but instead doing his job with integrity. They hope that he will do the same as President. And the prospect that he might get that position, and bring that sense of integrity, must be panicking the Israeli government. (Imagine, Gaza with air defence systems, and weapons that can actually be aimed at and hit the Israeli army from a distance)
You know the answer as well as I do: In the entire Muslim world there are no democracies. The USA needs a presence in many areas of the world, and holds its nose and picks (buys) one or two dictators. If there was a democracy, it would be instant marriage. It is telling that you say Mubarak "must be overthrown". I would love to hear you say, "Mubarak must be voted out at the next election", but you seem to know the score.
oFCOURSE Mubarak must go and go far away and with him all other dictators . That might help to create democracies all over the Mid East.
mubaraks days are numbered, people will love el baridi, seems my prediction is coming true, anyone know what that was?.
word as honest, he will be backed by iran in the name of the palies, and el-quaida will try to infiltrate sinai, wich actually start sectarian violence between sunni eygpt and iranian shai. When all this time the illegal cult government is still enriching material for a nuclear warhead, under the nose of EU,UN,US we cant include russia or china because their in bed with the cult. (mousavi's) words about his own government. Stay tuned!!!
The obvious difference - Egypt has received tens of billions in US aid. The Iranians and Syrians, not so much.
It is an incredibly limited view to consider democracy to be merely holding free elections. Democratic values are a part of it. America was not really a democracy at its creation, it became better after the civil war. As to why America wants these puppet regimes, well, it wants to avoid avoid having a few countries ruled by the equivalents of Hamas, which the elections will lead to. These are ruled by Iran. Does anyone really think that a democratically elected egyptian government will be good for Egypt? This is the major middle-eastern problem. They don;t like their regimes, but don't know what to replace them with. It's the same in Iran. The protests are against something, but not really for something
El Baradei should realize more then anyone in Egypt. Mubarack's son shall be the next pharoh. As in Syria the son shall follow the father and the dynasty continues. If El Baradei shall try to lead an opposition then we shall soon read about him in the obituaries. The Us will support anyone who gives allegence to the USA and fights the Islamist fanamentalists such as the Moslem Brotherhood. This is the way of the Middle East. El Baradei has shown himself to be very coniving in the past but he is no match for the Mubaracks dynasty.
Baradei will end the southern border siege of Gaza. Israel had better get real.
it will be the Brotherhood that replaces him, not Baradei. Guess that will make all these 'Democracy Lovers' happy.
The US prefers governments that promote the interests of US corporations. Period. Regardless of the human rights record of a given country. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, etcetera.
you are a broken record w/o a clue
Why on earth does the West support a dictator like Mubarak, while espousing the wonders of democracy - talk about double standards!
I hope Baraei intends to approach his next position with more honesty than he brought to his last.
he's gonna foment a revolution and its gonna be ugly. mark my words, it will engulf egypt and eventually, engulf el baradei...he's going to have to make deals with the muslim brotherhood,hezbollah, hamas, etc..it wont be pretty...this dude is and has been the hand of allah dressed up in "western" attitude..he's even moreso that moussa the radical flake...el hidemynukes will bring more bloodshed...if mubarak jnr wishes to live, he has one choice..fight now, or leave alive. El hidemynukes almost singlehandedly made peace in the region impossible by shielding for iran..AQ Khan helped too. I think we all know where ALL of this is going...bernard lewis was right. It IS a clash of civilizations. The left just doesn't want to face it.
Because Arab governments are American puppets, and because if Arabs are given true chances to practice democracies, America will fail. American governments have supported so many dectatoric regimes all over the world, yet they alleged they went to iraq to free Iraqis, who can believe that??..they went to iraq to steal oil and put the Iraqi people in Abu gharib.
The Americans are not magicians, like Bush thought they were when bringing 'democracy' to Iraq. The people of Egypt have the right to free themselves as do the Iranians. In the meantime, you deal with them according to their position regarding your overall goals and interests in the ME. That is not colonial and respectfull. Bringing democracy is colonial and disrespectfull.
Do you think that Syrians and Iranians deserve that kind of murderous regimes or to you,those regimes will be worthy of criticism only if they try to develop Egypt like relation with Israel? And because this is unlikely in near future,there is no reason why you should care about Iranians being killed or tortured, right chet?
As with Israel, one wonders what benefit the US gains from its political and financial support of these regimes. With his draconian measures to prevent opposition parties to develop in pursuit of continued power, Mubarak is no better than the vile Mugabe.