NEWSLETTER - Canada Egypt Business Council

CEBC
Events
Shater said that it is wishful thinking to expect parties to
reach a perfect consensus and that this rarely takes place
in countries however the country will democratically
choose the school of thought it finds best, and that its
choice will be respected.
He then moved to explain the necessary factors for an
economic revival, saying that the most important factor
is political will and another is vision. He said that it does
not have to be a certain political group’s vision, but one
that is widely accepted by the rest of the players in the
political scene. El Shater further explained his group’s
vision; the Renaissance Project, which was initiated as the
FJP started to take the lead in the parliamentary elections
and eventually won 47.2% of seats in both parliamentary
houses, and thus was expected to take part in the coalition
government, which was supposed to be formed. Upon that his group met with veterans in
various related fields in order to build a vision for the country’s future, delegations from the
party visited several countries to study their success stories and to find out what could be
applicable in Egypt. Of the experiences that El Shater found particularly relevant, is the South
African ‘transitional justice’ after the end of apartheid, restructuring of security agencies in
Holland and the Spanish experience after Franco, among others. In this context, he spoke of
the importance of partnerships with different countries in various fields, in order to benefit
from these countries successes, which is something ongoing for the Muslim Brotherhood
at the moment.
Upon implementation, El Shater said that the Renaissance Project would be presented for
discussions in popular conferences and feedback from specialized professionals would be
sought. He said that a prerequisite to proceeding with Egypt’s Renaissance Project is for the
formation of a proper political regime with proper state
institutions. He said that now the institutions remaining
are the presidency, the cabinet, the constitution and a
truly independent judiciary but that there are obstacles
hindering the formation of these institutions, the main
is that the ruling authorities have not demonstrated a
genuine willingness to hand over power to the proper
institutions. El Shater criticized their reluctance to allow
for the formation of an active coalition government,
thus the need for different political powers to reach a
consensus on trying strenuously to get through the
transitional period. He highlighted that Egypt’s legacy
of dictatorship has crippled the current political players’
ability to form alliances, make compromises and untie
for a common goal. “The Muslim Brotherhood is no
exception; on the contrary, it has suffered discrimination
CEBC 32