Egypt’s unlikely ‘founding fathers’
By David Ignatius,
WashPost
Wednesday, April 13, 9:04 PM
CAIRO
They make an unlikely trio of “founding fathers” for the new Egypt: One is a wily, old-school politician, the second is a reticent scientist who won the Nobel Peace Prize and the third is a hard-nosed business tycoon. But they are emerging as the country’s senior political voices and, interestingly, they share similar views about Egypt’s transition to democracy.
The three leaders are Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and head of the Arab League; Mohamed ElBaradei, the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency; and Naguib Sawiris, the chief executive of Orascom, a giant telecommunications company that is Egypt’s biggest private employer. Egyptian analysts describe the first two as potential future presidents and the third as a possible kingmaker. (Sawiris, a Coptic Christian, wouldn’t have a chance in a presidential bid, but he has just formed a powerful new political party.)
These senior figures didn’t make the revolution; that was the work of the young activists who gathered in Tahrir Square and refused to leave until President Hosni Mubarak resigned. But the three played important supporting roles. Each took a personal risk by coming to the square and supporting the demonstrators long before the outcome was clear.
Like America’s founders, they face a turbulent transition to democracy — and each one stresses that the political damage done by decades of repression can’t be undone in six months.
(More here.)
WashPost
Wednesday, April 13, 9:04 PM
CAIRO
They make an unlikely trio of “founding fathers” for the new Egypt: One is a wily, old-school politician, the second is a reticent scientist who won the Nobel Peace Prize and the third is a hard-nosed business tycoon. But they are emerging as the country’s senior political voices and, interestingly, they share similar views about Egypt’s transition to democracy.
The three leaders are Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and head of the Arab League; Mohamed ElBaradei, the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency; and Naguib Sawiris, the chief executive of Orascom, a giant telecommunications company that is Egypt’s biggest private employer. Egyptian analysts describe the first two as potential future presidents and the third as a possible kingmaker. (Sawiris, a Coptic Christian, wouldn’t have a chance in a presidential bid, but he has just formed a powerful new political party.)
These senior figures didn’t make the revolution; that was the work of the young activists who gathered in Tahrir Square and refused to leave until President Hosni Mubarak resigned. But the three played important supporting roles. Each took a personal risk by coming to the square and supporting the demonstrators long before the outcome was clear.
Like America’s founders, they face a turbulent transition to democracy — and each one stresses that the political damage done by decades of repression can’t be undone in six months.
(More here.)
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