One of Nasser’s historic supporters, Hamdeen, as his people call him, started to become involved in politics in the corridors of Egyptian universities during the seventies. He is known for his ability to openly speak unpopular words. In 1977 on live television he denounced the corruption in President Anwar Sadat’s government, as well as his open-door policies with the United States and Israel. The man who on Monday and Tuesday will challenge the former commander of the Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah el Sisi, in the presidential elections, was the youngest political prisoner to fall prey to Sadat’s repressive grip.
95% of Egyptians abroad have already voted for el Sisi. Why did you decide to challenge him knowing full well that the former general will win by a landslide?
My electoral result is not already established by fate. It will depend on Egyptian society’s reaction. I represent the poorer people and the young, which on paper means most of the country. My entire political career has been dedicated to them and, like that of the country, my future depends above all on the young. All my energy is addressed at the young, in order to create a political class capable of challenging our opponents. These presidential elections are the first challenge in this new era, but they are not the only challenges, nor are they the last ones.
Some of these young voters will boycott the elections. What do you have to say to those who accuse you of legitimising the army’s return to power?
A boycott is a political instrument of the past, when the requisites for a real political competition did not exist. Now the political climate allows real challenges, which is why taking part in these elections is part of a political strategy centred on including the people in decision-making dynamics from which they have been excluded for far too long. During the election campaign many people who had initially stated they would not vote changed their minds, because they understood that I am assuming responsibility for participating in complex political dynamics. If necessary, I am prepared to lead a responsible opposition.
I am not legitimising the army’s return to power. I am legitimising Egyptians’ right to participate in their country’s political life and to do so in a democratic manner so as to achieve the objectives of the January 25th 2011 uprising. Those objectives could really transform Egypt.
During the 2011 parliamentary elections, your party decided to become part of the coalition led by the Muslim Brotherhood. What role will the once again illegal Brotherhood play in the new Egypt you envisage?
I engage with the Muslim Brotherhood just as I engage with all other Egyptians. When its members were unfairly repressed and imprisoned, I defended them. When the day after January 25th they too decided to take part in the revolution we welcomed them with open arms. When they decided to participate in the Egyptian political game, all other parties, not only mine, decided to accept this innovation. This marked the beginning of a political competition. I challenged Mohammed Mursi (the Islamist president deposed last July 3rd Editor’s Note) in the 2012 presidential elections. When he offered me the position of vice president I refused, preferring to remain in opposition in order to make recommendations. Mursi, however, never listened, and coming to power he became increasingly authoritarian. That was why we created the National Salvation Front (an alliance of various political parties united by a shared opposition to Mursi and his government’s Islamist power Editor’s Note) in order to challenge him. I was one of those who asked Egyptians to take to the streets on June 30th 2013 to start a new revolution, indispensable to achieve the objectives of the 2011 uprising.
To what extent is stability sustainable in Egypt if the Muslim Brotherhood is excluded from the political stage?
The Muslim Brotherhood has lost political legitimacy. Not only has it no support from the people, but its idea of democracy has lost trustworthiness. The Brotherhood has proved it wants a democracy able to guarantee its own interests, not to protect those of all society. When Egyptians took to the street asking for Mursi to be deposed, the Brotherhood incited its members to resist using violence. That is why I believe that the decision to once again ban the movement was the right one. We cannot accept political parties that use violence as a political weapon.
In the future, however, should the Muslim Brotherhood commit to respect the rules governing democratic competition, accepting peaceful dynamics, I would be prepared to give the movement the same rights as enjoyed by all other Egyptians. The 2014 Constitution forbids all parties based on religion, but should I become president I would not consider peaceful Islamist ideas as a problem.
El Sisi’s victory will be portrayed as a triumph for the army, Egypt’s strongest and most stable institution. What element is missing in your country to transform it into a civilian regime?
To complete the process, the revolution must rise to power with its values and its objectives. Until this happens, conditions in Egypt will not allow for the creation of a civilian, transparent and democratic state accepting the role played by an active and civilised society.