On Friday February 19, the long anticipated Airplane of Mr Mohamed El Baradei finally landed at the Egyptian International Airport. About 1000 Egyptians well wishers supporters and political leaders (thousands of state securities) were allowed inside the Airport waiting area to great him. This skimpy crowd not a promising start for Mr. Baradie, the only potential presidential candidate to challenge the well entrenched Egyptian president Mubarak, who has been ruling Egypt under Marshal law for almost 3 decades and has no attention for leaving power. So what is to expect of the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr El Baradei spent most of his life outside Egypt exposing nuclear cheaters around the world, but exposing political cheaters in Egypt is much tougher task. Political corruption in Egypt has been institutionalized, and transformed to a culture of a mainstream politics. It is more radiating in Egyptian insinuations and political street than the nuclear material and harder to inspect. “I am here because I want the bad situation in Egyptian society to change,” he declared to the cheering crowd, so are the other 80 millions of Egyptian who has been waiting for this illusive change more than 60 years, ‘some Egyptian analysis think that the noble peace prize winner, the one who has negotiated the tough issue of nuclear materials with Sadam Iraq and Iran is nothing but a media figurehead. Mr. El Baradei has no experience of Egyptian political sausage making apparatus, where the political rotten has become unnoticed and odorantlees. “ElBaradei has made a difficult choice to come back to his country,” observed Egyptian author, Alaa Al-Aswany, who joined the crowds at the airport. Mr. Elbaradei, some says, has been away for so long and he is out of touch and out of luck too, if he wins the next presidential election, Mr. Elbaradei will be the first non-military president to run Egypt for almost 60 years; for him to run, the Egyptian constitution needs to change to allow him to run as independent, otherwise as of now he has to be a head of a political party for at least a year. Most Egyptians has been living under Mr. Mubarak iron fist and marshal law for 30 years. The relationship between the oppressive Mubarak regime and the oppressed Egyptian people has been neutralized and legitimized that most of oppressed Egyptians helplessly now are dependent on their oppressor for their survival. “Mubarak family has been grapping power and wealth for years, they don’t need anymore, now we don’t need a new thief to start this cycle again” said the cab driver as he is casually driving through the red light traffic in crowded Cairo street.
Ahmed Tharwat/ Host
Arab American TV show BelAhdan
Blog: www.ahmediatv.com
612-250-6567
