Only a man like the late South African leader Nelson Mandela could bring about reconciliation of the Muslim Brotherhood and the government of Egypt and could prevent the country from sliding into a lengthy conflict, says journalist and author Hugh Miles.
There is, however, no indication that such man is about to come
forward while the current government supported by the Gulf States
has apparently decided to get rid of the Islamist group, Miles,
who is an award-winning freelance journalist and author
specializing in the Middle East, told RT.
RT:You have covered the events in Egypt
extensively, how do you assess the situation there now?
Hugh Miles: It seems like a decision has been
taken by the government to try and get rid of the Muslim
Brotherhood once and for all. But because both sides have a very
hard core of supporters, it seems we are in for a prolonged
conflict between those two. So it looks like more violence is on
the cards, unfortunately, with no end in sight.
RT:What in your opinion would help to stop
it?
HM: What would stop it, if there was some kind
of reconciliation between the two sides. The problem is that
Egypt is so deeply divided at the moment. The only person who has
enough power in the country at the moment to bring about such
reconciliation would be General [Abdel Fattah Al] Sisi. But
General Sisi and his government have shown no indication that
they want to reconcile with the Muslim Brotherhood, and they are
pursuing this very hardline crackdown on them.
Meanwhile, on the other side the Muslim Brotherhood and their
supporters are very ardent, they are not likely to give up any
time soon. And the other issue is that increasingly the secular
liberal opposition in Egypt, people who were involved in 2011
revolution, are joining up with the Muslim Brotherhood. There is
opposition to the Army and the current government not just from
the Islamist camp, but increasingly from the secular liberal camp
as well, who fear that the clock is being turned back, that they
are going back to a kind of Mubarak-2, if you like.
RT:In such a difficult situation, what
could be a unifying factor?
HM: What we need is a kind of truth and
reconciliation, like what happened in South Africa. We need a
kind of Egyptian Nelson Mandela to come forward. But I mean there
is absolutely no sign of this at the moment.
The problem as well is that foreign backers of this current
government – the Gulf Arab powers – are not friends of the Muslim
Brotherhood themselves, so they are supporting Egypt quite likely
on the condition that the Egyptian government does not reconcile
with the Islamist camp. The Gulf Arab countries have got their
own concerns about Muslim Brotherhood.
So the Egyptian government has got little incentive to reconcile
– but this is the only hope at this stage, otherwise it looks
unfortunately that the country is going to slide into prolonged
conflict because the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters,
having seen that they cannot take power through the ballot box,
some of them are likely to turn violent.
RT:What about the attitude towards the
Constitution? Surely obtaining one is in everyone’s interest, but
why in Egypt is it such a burning issue?
HM: The Constitution and the elections which are
planned – this is all the government’s timeline, their wish list
of how they would like Egypt to continue in the future, if Egypt
was a normal country. Unfortunately, the Muslim Brotherhood,
their supporters and other Islamists completely reject the
Constitution, they reject the whole program which is planned, the
elections, they do not accept this government, they see them as
traitors, and the think that President Morsi is still the
government of Egypt – so the country is very divided. This
Constitution is meaningless to the supporters of the Islamists.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.