Sibilant Egypt

This was published in Daily News Egypt as the news came out that Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil El-Araby became the new Secretary-General of the Arab League.

Egypt on Sunday withdrew its candidate Mustafa El-Fiqi just moments before voting was due to start and nominated its Foreign Minister Nabil El-Araby to head the Arab League instead, an Arab diplomat told AFP.

A series of protests was organized around downtown Cairo recently in objection to the Egyptian Cabinet’s nomination of Mustafa El-Fiqi to succeed Amr Moussa as the head of the Arab League when Moussa steps down May 15.

Qatar also withdrew its candidate for Arab League secretary general, Abdul Rahman Al-Attiya, after Egypt nominated its foreign minister, according to AFP.

The objections against El-Fiqi centered around his connections with the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak and his membership in the regime’s political party; the National Democratic Party (NDP). He was the NDP candidate in Damanhour in 2005, a campaign he won amidst allegations of bribery, corruption and vote rigging.

While MP, he also chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee in the People’s Assembly. Those who object feel that Egypt’s candidate in the post-revolutionary era should not be someone with close ties to the regime the revolution overthrew. Read more…