Islamist Victory Worries Secular Egyptians

Many secular Egyptians are worried about the election victory of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Mursi.

One of them is Shahira Amin, the former deputy head and senior anchor at Egyptian state-owned Nile TV. She resigned from the position last year to protest the channel’s coverage of Egypt’s January 25th Revolution.

Amin didn’t vote for Mursi, and despite her worries she’s offering him cautious support, for now.

“Morsi has tried to allay our concerns. He said that he will end his affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood. And he’s promised to be a president for all Egyptians – Muslims and Christians,” Amin says. “But we’ve seen members of the brotherhood renege on their promises.”

She’s especially worried by positions taken by many of Egypt’s Islamist parliamentarians in the past year and a half.

“They want laws giving women the rights to divorce scrapped. They want to bring down the marriage age of girls to 12. They want to bring back the harmful practice of female genital mutilation. So of course all that worries me,” Amin says.

“But I really want give him the benefit of the doubt,” she adds. “The more we marginalize the Islamists, the more we radicalize them.”

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Marco Werman: I’m Marco Werman. This is The World. Mohammed Mursi didn’t waste any time. The Egypt’s new president has already moved into the office once occupied by Hosni Mubarak. What Mursi can do with as president is another matter. His post has been stripped of many of its powers by Egypt’s military. Mursi was the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate and many in Egypt are worried that the Brotherhood will wanna impose conservative Islamic rules on society. Shahira Amin was a senior anchor at Egypt’s state-owned Nile TV. She quit during the revolution to protest how state TV was portraying the protest. Amin says she did not vote for Mursi but she’s offering the new Egyptian leader her support despite some concerns.

Shahira Amin: As a secularist myself, I am very concerned about a conservative Islamist as president. I know that Mursi has tried to allay our concerns. He said that he will end his affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood and he’s promised to be a president for all Egyptians – Muslims and Christians. He’s promised to protect minority rights and the rights of women, but we’ve seen members of the Brotherhood renege on their promises. They tried to have the monopoly over the drafting of the constitution and they said they won’t field a candidate for the presidency. What we’ve seen from the Islamist parliament over the year and a half justifies our concerns. They want clause giving the women right to divorce, scrapped. They want to bring down the marriage age of girls to 12. They want to bring back the harmful practice of female genital mutilation. So of course, all that worries me.

Werman: Right. That’s what i was gonna precisely say. I mean, do you really thing Mursi’s vows for the unity of Egypt really includes the women?

Amin: I really want to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think that she-, he should be given a chance because the more we marginalize the Islamists, the more we radicalize them. I think by integrating them into the mainstream, we’ll allow them to reform, to become more moderate and i, i think they won’t be focusing on trivial issues like women and the headscarf but they will really concentrate on the nitty-gritty.

Werman: You’ve met Mursi, you’ve been in meetings with him. What’s his management style and does it give you any indication as to how things might progress?

Amin: I’m not too impressed with Mursi, the man himself, because i see him as colorless but at least his promises of being the president for all Egyptians and ending his affiliation with the Brotherhood gives me hope that he will try to, uh, fulfill the goals of the revolution. None of which have been fulfilled in the past year and a half in the transitional period. In fact, the military council has made a total mess of the transitional period. My big concern is that his hands will be tied and that they will try to continue pulling the strings. They want to shield their budget from scrutiny. They don’t want to be held accountable. They say they will re-introduce martial law and they want control over the drafting the new constitution. So all that worries me. So i think that their plan is to create chaos for him, to try and bring him down basically.

Werman: You took a big risk, Shahira Amin, when you resigned from Nile TV over their coverage what you felt was disappointing coverage of the uprising last year at Tahrir Square. Haven taken such a bold position, how do you feel right now getting a result from this presidential elections that really, is not the best you could have hoped for?

Amin: I didn’t vote. I invalidated my vote because i wasn’t convinced by either candidate, but uh, you know, I’m hoping that, uh, Mursi will fulfill his promises and from today i join the opposition camp. I will hold him accountable and i will be watching very closely. We shall have to wait and see right now. We shall give him the benefit of the doubt.

Werman: Shahira Amin speaking with us from Cairo. Thank you very much.

Amin: Thank you, Marco.

Werman: Shahira Amin was a senior anchor at Egypt’s state-owned Nile TV until she quit during last year’s revolution. She joined us from Cairo…

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