INDIAN PARLIAMENT VS EGYPTIAN PARLIAMENT

I am preoccupied that the parliament of India, a 1.2 billion people country, has 543 members, while the parliament of Egypt, a 90 million people country, has +600 members. With the large number of parliament members in Egypt, most of us do not know the candidates. That is the question people asks me wherever I go: who do we elect, Dr. Bardawi, we do not know any of the candidates?

I see that the new Egyptian constitution expressed a communal culture that care about the quantity and number, not the quality and character of MP. As if electing a larger number of people representatives, whom the people do not even know their names, will demonstrate democracy, compared to electing a fewer number that we know, can compare among them and follow them up.

Unfortunately, the same constitution approved a regime that depends on partisan parliamentary majority to form the government, the president’s equal partner in state administration, at the time of absence of parties that are popular for more than 60 years and we all know that.

Egypt needs sustainable development and stability so development programs will have an effective impact. In my humble opinion, out of my experience over the years, Egypt problem was not in the president’s powers, but rather in how to hold him accountable, lack of rotation of power and balancing of this power with legislative and judicial power.

I pray to God that the new parliament will disappoint my expectation and add to us, not take from us.

I ask the president to rise to the level of my expectations, to engage civil society in ruling, not to be the only one in power under any pretext, and to analyze the reasons behind the previous political activity failure to avoid taking the same actions, as he will get the same outcomes.

I decided to be positive. Out of my national and international political and academic experience, I write what I consider a hope for Egypt and at same time possible in all fields, so the decision maker adopts what he sees proper. People elected him to lead. Our role is to present alternatives to him and to the ruling institution. They should choose well and we hold them accountable for the total, not just a piece.