Amr Moussa, a wry and eloquent political operative, did not shy away from speaking candidly on the urgency of accelerating the political transition from Egypt's current military rule to presidential elections, as soon as by early 2012.
In Moussa's vision, a first step towards establishing a "second Egyptian republic” would entail cutting the military loose from overall political decision making. “The new republic,” not to be confused with Plato’s classic work, would entail a separation of power between the legislative and executive branch, and a fully independent judiciary.
Nonetheless, as an outspoken proponent of a presidential system, Moussa argued that until the Egyptian political landscape was "ready" for a parliamentary system, a “strong” president was needed. Meanwhile, and up until then, Moussa recommended that a constitutional committee should craft a new constitution, and not the parliament.
While some of his suggested political reforms are likely to be contested among Egypt's emerging political stakeholders, ranging from Islamists to secularists and activists from the Twitter and Facebook generation, Moussa nonetheless seemed confident in his ability to sway military rulers and the public at large on the need to maintain a presidential system.
On the future of Egyptian political participation, it was perhaps not surprising that Moussa firmly opposed excluding former Mubarak regime officials from the political process. Instead, he argued that those who ”profited” from the former regime should naturally be excluded.
"We cannot demand that the military relinquishes power immediately, we need an accelerated process,” he argued. Moussa also called on the military to end the Mubarak-era emergency law.
Regional security
Meanwhile, as we continued to discuss a host of security related issues facing Egypt and the region at large, Moussa began by underscoring that its only a matter of time before the Syrian regime collapses: "Change is here to stay and there is no turning the clock back.”
"Change has long been overdue in the Middle East and the Arab people will no longer tolerate oppression and statical regimes,” he elaborated.
Moussa called on the need to settle the region's major problems, which included reaching a fair and viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, As part of that effort, he called for a free and independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Iran and Israeli nukes
While the former Arab-League official called for a "nuclear free" Middle East, he openly equated Israel's alleged nuclear weapons to Iran's clandestine program when asked to comment about a recent UN report put forth by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). As the report in question suggests, among other things, that Tehran is rapidly marching towards nuclear weapon capability, Moussa diplomatically stressed that "Iran is not a natural enemy of the Arab people." As a possible solution to mounting regional tensions, he suggested that Egypt should hold dialogue with Iran, but that the region would be better off without any weapons of mass destruction.
When I asked him about whether his administration would carryout an "activist foreign policy," Moussa hesitated and questioned: "Nothing is wrong with activist positions, especially when it comes to peace and development." While pressed on whether an activist Egyptian foreign policy would clash with those presently carried out by Turkey and Iran, the Egyptian presidential contender argued that Iran and Turkey are in their own right to conduct an activist foreign policy. Despite contrasting what he called Turkey's "smooth" foreign policy to Iran's "rogue" positions, Moussa seemed to remain crystal clear in his assessment that the Arab-world won't accept external leadership, as the center of the Arab-world demands an Arab-leader.
Proposing a strong Egyptian foreign policy, Moussa stressed: "Israel will have to adopt and change its policies." Nonetheless, and despite his previous statements equating alleged Israeli nuclear weapons to Iranian ones, Moussa underscored that "we're all for peace" and called the Arab Spring a window of opportunity to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a testimony to that statement, he described the recent Egyptian-mediated prisoners' exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas in return for abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit as a positive example of cooperation.
“Some people say that an accelerated process would benefit your candidacy. What's your comment on that?"
"An accelerated process will benefit Egypt, and if it benefits me, that would be ok too."
Lastly, upon asking why he was a better candidate than the rest of the Egyptian presidential contenders, and in particular compared to Muhammed El Baradai, Moussa answered with a wry smile: "You will have to ask the Egyptian people, they will tell the truth."
Sigurd Neubauer is a Washington, D.C.-based defense and foreign affairs specialist. Follow Sigurd on Twitter @SigiMideast.
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A Conversation with Egyptian Presidential Candidate Amr Moussa
November 15, 2011
Amr Moussa, a wry and eloquent political operative, did not shy away from speaking candidly on the urgency of accelerating the political transition from Egypt's current military rule to presidential elections, as soon as by early 2012.
In Moussa's vision, a first step towards establishing a "second Egyptian republic” would entail cutting the military loose from overall political decision making. “The new republic,” not to be confused with Plato’s classic work, would entail a separation of power between the legislative and executive branch, and a fully independent judiciary.
Nonetheless, as an outspoken proponent of a presidential system, Moussa argued that until the Egyptian political landscape was "ready" for a parliamentary system, a “strong” president was needed. Meanwhile, and up until then, Moussa recommended that a constitutional committee should craft a new constitution, and not the parliament.
While some of his suggested political reforms are likely to be contested among Egypt's emerging political stakeholders, ranging from Islamists to secularists and activists from the Twitter and Facebook generation, Moussa nonetheless seemed confident in his ability to sway military rulers and the public at large on the need to maintain a presidential system.
On the future of Egyptian political participation, it was perhaps not surprising that Moussa firmly opposed excluding former Mubarak regime officials from the political process. Instead, he argued that those who ”profited” from the former regime should naturally be excluded.
"We cannot demand that the military relinquishes power immediately, we need an accelerated process,” he argued. Moussa also called on the military to end the Mubarak-era emergency law.
Regional security
Meanwhile, as we continued to discuss a host of security related issues facing Egypt and the region at large, Moussa began by underscoring that its only a matter of time before the Syrian regime collapses: "Change is here to stay and there is no turning the clock back.”
"Change has long been overdue in the Middle East and the Arab people will no longer tolerate oppression and statical regimes,” he elaborated.
Moussa called on the need to settle the region's major problems, which included reaching a fair and viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, As part of that effort, he called for a free and independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Iran and Israeli nukes
While the former Arab-League official called for a "nuclear free" Middle East, he openly equated Israel's alleged nuclear weapons to Iran's clandestine program when asked to comment about a recent UN report put forth by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). As the report in question suggests, among other things, that Tehran is rapidly marching towards nuclear weapon capability, Moussa diplomatically stressed that "Iran is not a natural enemy of the Arab people." As a possible solution to mounting regional tensions, he suggested that Egypt should hold dialogue with Iran, but that the region would be better off without any weapons of mass destruction.
When I asked him about whether his administration would carryout an "activist foreign policy," Moussa hesitated and questioned: "Nothing is wrong with activist positions, especially when it comes to peace and development." While pressed on whether an activist Egyptian foreign policy would clash with those presently carried out by Turkey and Iran, the Egyptian presidential contender argued that Iran and Turkey are in their own right to conduct an activist foreign policy. Despite contrasting what he called Turkey's "smooth" foreign policy to Iran's "rogue" positions, Moussa seemed to remain crystal clear in his assessment that the Arab-world won't accept external leadership, as the center of the Arab-world demands an Arab-leader.
Proposing a strong Egyptian foreign policy, Moussa stressed: "Israel will have to adopt and change its policies." Nonetheless, and despite his previous statements equating alleged Israeli nuclear weapons to Iranian ones, Moussa underscored that "we're all for peace" and called the Arab Spring a window of opportunity to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As a testimony to that statement, he described the recent Egyptian-mediated prisoners' exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas in return for abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit as a positive example of cooperation.
“Some people say that an accelerated process would benefit your candidacy. What's your comment on that?"
"An accelerated process will benefit Egypt, and if it benefits me, that would be ok too."
Lastly, upon asking why he was a better candidate than the rest of the Egyptian presidential contenders, and in particular compared to Muhammed El Baradai, Moussa answered with a wry smile: "You will have to ask the Egyptian people, they will tell the truth."
Sigurd Neubauer is a Washington, D.C.-based defense and foreign affairs specialist. Follow Sigurd on Twitter @SigiMideast.
