The Next Obama and Hollande: Sabahi of Egypt?

The Next Obama and Hollande: Sabahi of Egypt?

By Aladdin Elaasar,
Author, "The Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the Uncertain Future of Egypt in the Obama Age"

The Egyptian political scene is heating up. The presidential elections have already started with Egyptian expatriates casting their votes in embassies around the world. Generations of Egyptian expatriates mount to at least five millions. By the end of May and early June, masses of Egypt at home are expected to vote. This is the first time in Egyptian modern history that people are allowed to vote for several candidates, let alone watch a live televised debate. The previous presidential elections in 2005 were a farce with massive vote rigging and the Mubarak regime arresting two of the candidates in that race; Ayman Nour and Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim the Egyptian American sociologist. They stayed in jail till early 2009.

Elections this time is different and more important. This is post-revolution Egypt that ousted Mubarak and gang and put them in jail. Egyptians witnessed their former dictator and Pharaoh, his sons and henchmen behind bars and tried. Stories of massive corruption and looting have since been the favorite topic of Egyptian media. Recently, the EU spokeswoman announced that almost $15 trillion dollars have been looted from Egypt during the three decades of Mubarak; that could have launched that country into a prosperous nation.

This is why elections this year is of great importance to Egyptians. They do not want to go back to the same old business-as-usual politics of the cronies of the Mubarak regime, whom most of them are still at large and live and well. The Egyptian parliament passed a law banning the return of the remnants of the Mubarak regime. One of the presidential candidates was removed from the race but few days later came back as a candidate again to the dismay of many Egyptians. General Ahmed Shafik, 75 yrs old, a cartoonish character, who has been the butt of jokes due to the resemblance in his stuttering speech to one of Egypt's comedian Younes Shalabi, was a close assistant of Mubarak. Shafik was appointed by Mubarak in his final days as PM and served as Minister of Civil Aviation for years. Shafik is not charismatic at all, but has some appeal to some old folks in the Egyptian aristocracy and was dubbed as the favorite candidate of the Old Ladies of Garden City (an aristocratic district in Cairo that hosts foreign embassies) who consider him chic and debonaire! He is trailing behind in the polls.

The other candidate with a similar background is Amro Mousa who served as Mubarak's Foreign Minister and head of the Arab League and became famous when Egyptian rapper Shabaan Abdel- Rahim made a song about him. Abdel- Rahim has sung for Mubarak as well and for other candidates. Mousa has been under a lot of criticism especially for his passive role during his days at the Arab League. Most Arabs consider the Arab League as a joke; a paper tiger with banquets and schmoozing cocktail parties that do not material into anything but press releases. The Egyptian media is rife with rumors and allegations that Mousa is the favorite candidate of the remnants of the Mubarak regime, the Military Council and certain Arab Gulf countries- who allegedly pumped millions into his campaign coffers. Some people fear massive vote rigging in favor of Mousa. Mousa is considered a Chameleon and a Machiavellian politician who has several messages for several audiences; a flip flop to be exact.

Another candidate is Dr. Abdel-Moneim Abol-Futuh who is a front runner and enjoys a great deal of respect from Islamists and some liberals. Although he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, MB, the leadership inside the Brotherhood considers him too liberal. The Brotherhood lined up two candidates to defeat him; first Khairt El-Shatter-who was disqualified by the Presidential Elections Committee-, and now Mohamed Morsi. Morsi has been described by the Egyptian media as a mere clerk inside the MB. There is divisions inside the MB and popular anger towards the MB for such decisions, and for allegedly striking deals with the military since the early days of the revolutions, and that they might endorse Mousa to fail Abol-Futuh.

Egyptians at large refuse those candidates from a military background and those above seventy-five who belong to the Old Guard. But some might vote for the wrong person for the wrong reasons. Some might not like Mousa, but vote for him because they do not like Islamist candidates.

Then, there is another runner up; Hamdeen Sabahi. Some people call him, The Come Back Kid, or the Surprise Candidate. Some predict that he would be the winning horse coming from behind, especially with a massive wave of support and endorsements that he has been enjoying. Sabahi was the the leader of the Dignity Party (Egypt) and one of the leaders of the Egyptian opposition before the revolution. He graduated from College of Mass Communication, Cairo University. and is a well-known journalist, a swell.

A well-known opposition figure, Sabahi in 1996 he founded the Nasserist Karama (Dignity) Party. He is described as liberal, secular and socialist. Sahabhi is running under the slogan "One of Us" which highlights his strong ties with the working class, farmers and the middle class. Sabahi also gained the support of prominent Egyptian figures including: scientist Ahmed Zewail, writer and political activist Alaa Al-Aswany and film director Khaled Youssef, and many others.

Sabahi was born in a small town in Kafr Al-Sheikh called Baltim, where he spent his childhood and youth among farmers and fishermen. In 1975, while a student at Cairo University, with a group of students, founded the Nasserist club. Hamdeen enjoyed a wide popularity among his colleagues who elected him president of the university's Student Union. In 1977, when former President Sadat met with Student Union representatives from around Egypt, Sabahi openly expressed his disapproval of Sadat's policies and regime. He criticized Sadat's Infitah (Open-Door Policy), which he said only favored the elite. Because of this confrontation, Sabahi was banned from working as a journalist. And in September 1981, Sabahi was the youngest member of the Nationalist Opposition movement to be detained.

In 1992, Sabahi helped establish the Democratic Nasserist Party. In 1993, he was detained by the Mubarak regime. In his first attempt at running for parliamentary elections in 1995, the old regime sent out thugs to attack his supporters. The violent attack reportedly caused the death of 2 and injured 37 supporters.

Sabahi established al-Karama (Dignity) political party in 1998. Starting 1999, Sabahi became an active member of the Journalists Syndicate and was appointed as head of its Media committee. In 2000, Sabahi was elected as an independent member of parliament.

In 2003, Sabahi was arrested for the fourth time- even though, members of the parliament are supposed to have immunity. A year later, he helped establish the grassroots coalition "Egyptian Movement for Change" -or Kefaya (Enough!)- which opposed the Mubarak's rule and the idea of grooming Mubarak's son, Gamal, for the presidency. Sabahi became the editor-in-chief of the newly created Al-Karama newspaper until mid-2010 and was able to garner the support of thousands for his campaign the National Association for Change of which Muhammad Al-Baradei and Ayman Nour were also members.

On January 25, 2011, Hamdeen Sabahi joined the protests, and also took part in the "Friday of Anger" protest on January 28.After the fall of the Mubarak regime, Sabahi officially announced his intention to run for president. He promised that he will do his best to help Egypt become a democracy, where the law is truly above all and where citizens' rights are sacrosanct. In a press conference in March 2011, Hamdeen Sabahi promised that he would make the separation of powers more distinct, provide social equity and justice, and rid the Egyptian economy of monopoly and corruption. He promised economic reforms such as setting priorities for the national budget and setting a minimum wage for laborers.

In another press conference in October 2011, Sabahi said that his presidential campaign will focus on three aspects: "building a democratic system, clarifying the separation of powers, limiting presidential power, guaranteeing the freedoms of political parties, syndicates and the media," while preserving citizens' rights to protest and go on strike. Regarding the economy and social justice, he said that he hopes to establish a state-capitalist Egypt in which the public and private sectors cooperate with one another. According to Sabahi, the Egyptian should be entitled to eight things: "housing, healthcare, food, free education, work, insurance and a fair wage, and a clean environment." He told his audience, "If I become president and do not fulfill these promises, I ask you to hold me accountable".

Unlike other candidates who enjoyed huge financial support from the elite business class, the remnants of the Mubarak regime, and perhaps some rich Arab regimes, Sabahi depends on the small contributions of ordinary citizens and asked them to donate only an Egyptian pound (10 cents) for his campaign. Many people find similarities between his campaign and that of American President Barrack Obama and French President Francois Hollande. Other people likened him to former Brazilian President Lula; who managed to turn around Brazilian economy and made Brazil one of the fastest growing economies.Sabahi's campaign has a lot of young web-savvy and dedicated supporters who see in Sabahi a hope for a better future. Sabahi also enjoys a lot of support amongst Egyptian Coptic-Christians who might have concerns about some Islamist candidates. Will he then make it to the Presidential Palace that he announced that he will not live in? We'll see in the days ahead.

Aladdin Elaasar is the author of The Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the Uncertain Future of Egypt in the Obama Age Email him at: omaraladin [at] aol.com