Shifting Sands

Ha, Ha. Ha, Ha, Ha. Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha. Egyptians have just voted overwhelmingly for an electoral timetable within which the disorganised Tweeters in Tahrir Square will have nothing like enough time to put up candidates, yielding the field to the Muslim Brotherhood and to Mubarak's NDP, which has not been dissolved and which remains a significant force in many areas.

One quarter of the Egyptian Parliament should be elected on a constituency basis, one quarter elected on a proportional basis, forty-five per cent (an equal number of men and women) nominated by the General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, and five per cent (an equal number of men and women) nominated by the Coptic Patriarch. No legislation could be introduced unless sponsored by at least one MP from each of those four categories, nor could it be enacted without the approval of all four of the General Guide, the Patriarch, and the first and second-placed candidates in a direct Presidential election, termed the President and the Vice-President but enjoying exactly equal powers. Why not?

On social justice issues, the Muslim Brotherhood is not what it was, having changed direction to recant the public ownership and the wealth redistribution for which it used to campaign, and to support Mubarak's land reform reversals. But it could easily be talked into changing back, especially since it is by no means clear how convinced the party at large has ever been about these revisions at the top. Remind you of anyone? If Iran, Syria, the Palestinians, and the Lebanese coalition including Hezbollah are anything to go by, then the Copts are very well-placed to strike an excellent deal, in stark contrast to our beloved Israel, Turkey and Mubarak, which is why Tunisia needs watching as the Turkish AKP's little helpers take over there. And the Muslim Brotherhood, founded by British intelligence in order to agitate against independence, has always enjoyed excellent Foreign Office connections. So Commonwealth membership beckons, especially for a country which even still has a currency called the pound.

Across the border, meanwhile, at least one third of the population adheres to the Senussi synthesis of Salafism and popular Sufism. Benghazi is the historic centre of the Senussi Order, and from that base it fought with the Allies against the Axis. Its Chief, King Idris, remained steadfastly pro-British, so much so that he ended up with the GBE even though Libya was never part of the British Empire. Despite the presence of a major American air base, Idris's Libya even supported Britain over Suez. There are Copts in Libya, plus a bishopric for Catholics of Italian extraction in Tripoli, another for Catholics of Maltese extraction in Benghazi, and a small number of Anglican labourers with roots south of the Sahara, a fact bearing witness to historic ties to the British Empire.

So, something similar to the above for Libya, too? With equal numbers of constituency MPs from Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, and a requirement that no legislation be introduced unless sponsored by at least one MP from each, nor enacted without the approval of the majorities from both? Again, why not?