The USG Open Source Center translates an interview with new interim appointed prime minister of Egypt, Hazem Biblawi, in the Pan-Arab daily, al-Sharq al-Awsat. I have excerpted some of it below:
“Interview with Egyptian Prime Minister Dr Hazim al-Biblawi, by Abd-al-Sattar Hatitiah, from Cairo: “New Egyptian Prime Minister in an Interview with Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: Our Priority Is Security and the Economy, and We Will Not Exclude Anyone”
Al-Sharq al-Awsat Online
Friday, July 12, 2013
Document Type: OSC Translated Text
New Egyptian Prime Minister Dr Hazim al-Biblawi has said that his government “will be an integrated government with economic, security, social, and cultural aspects.” However, in an interview with Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Al-Biblawi stresses that the government has priorities to be achieved, at the top of these priorities are “security first, and then the economy.”
Al-Biblawi points out that the aid his country has received from GCC countries, at the forefront of which are Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait, during the past two days means that the outside world, especially the Gulf, has started to look at Egypt on the basis that it has started to get into a clearer stage of stability, and the investment and political climate “has become suitable for cooperation.”
Al-Biblawi explains that Egypt has returned to its original character that “considers the GCC countries as a political, economic, and security support.” Al-Biblawi points out that the previous regime– led by Dr Muhammad Mursi– when it came started to reduce the national Arab link “for the benefit of a wider one called the Islamic link,” and when that regime disappeared, the Arab countries returned to their character, and Egypt will go back to its character, and “I am very optimistic about this issue.”
Al-Biblawi talks about the political consequences witnessed in the Egyptian street, especially as regards the sit-in by the supporters of the ousted president that continues in Rabi`ah al-Adawiyah district east of Cairo, and the eruption of violence in Sinai. Al-Biblawi says that the new government will work to resolve these issues without excluding anyone, because it will be “a government for all and by all,” and “it has not come to take revenge or to settle accounts.” Al-Biblawi stresses that Egypt “must be open to all directions.”
The following is the text of the interview:
(Hatitah) What is the nature of the ministers who will be selected? We have had information that there will be two governments within the government, a security one and an economic one. Is this true?
(Al-Biblawi) It will be one government.
(Hatitah) Yes, but what is meant according to what has been said, is that there will be two basic groups within the government, one economic and the other a security group?
(Al-Biblawi) It will be an integrated government with economic aspects, security aspects, and cultural aspects, in addition to the social aspects. It will be a government consisting of all aspects, the same as any government that includes all the ministries of the state.
(Hatitah) But, according to the current reality in Egypt, there are priorities; is this not so?
(Al-Biblawi) Yes, naturally there are priorities.
(Hatitah) Such as what; are they the economy and the security?
(Al-Biblawi) Security first, then the economy.
(Hatitah) What do you think of the Arab aid that has been poured on Egypt recently, especially from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait? Can this aid help in changing the economic situation in Egypt for the better?
(Al-Biblawi) Definitely, this is not only linked to the fact that Egypt needs such aid, but it also means that the outside world, especially in the Gulf, is now considering the investment and political climate as moving toward being more suitable for cooperation. What harms the investors most is the sense of lack of clarity and of worry. This is an indication that the outside world has started to consider Egypt as getting into a clearer stage of stability.
(Hatitah) Some analysts used to consider that the Gulf countries perhaps were apprehensive about some actions by the previous regime, such as the attempt of rapprochement with Iran, while there were Egyptian policy constants such as “the security of the Gulf is a red line.” What do you think of the future of the relations between Egypt and the Gulf countries, especially after the Gulf aid that has been allocated to Egypt?
(Al-Biblawi) We do not consider the situation with the Gulf countries through the aid allocated to Egypt. The aid that has arrived is due to the Gulf countries` feeling that Egypt has gone back to its original character, which considers the Gulf countries as a political, economic, and security support for Egypt. Egypt along its history has considered that it has obligations, and also expects to have rights due to it from the Arab countries. Along its entire history, or at least during the past 50 years, Egypt has been dealing on the basis that there are special relations that bind the Arab region, and that regardless of the disagreements that sometimes erupt here and there, there is always a pan-Arab interest that imposes itself on all.
This has emerged following the 1967 war (between Egypt and Israel). At that time, the most acute conflict between Arab countries was between Egypt and Saudi Arabia; however, at the Khartoum summit, the country that sponsored the idea of offering aid to Egypt was Saudi Arabia.
What I want to say is that the organic link between Egypt and the Gulf countries in particular has existed for 50 years. When the previous regime, headed by Dr Muhammad Mursi, came to power, this pan-Arab link started to weaken for the benefit of a wider link called “the Islamic group,” or “the Islamic league.” The Arab region, since the fifties and the beginning of the independence of the Arab countries, has considered that despite all the disputes that can occur among the various countries, there is a supreme value for all which considers that the stability, security, and human and economic relations within the region ought to be supreme. When the previous regime was removed, the Arab countries returned to their nature, and Egypt will return to its nature. I am very optimistic about this issue.
(Hatitah) With regard to the political events in the street, do you have a program to move them or incorporate them into the new situation? By the political events I mean the sit-in (staged by the supporters of the former president) in Rabi`ah al-Adawiyah district east of Cairo, and the violent events in Sinai?
(Al-Biblawi) This is an important part that comes within the pursuit to establish an atmosphere of political security calmness. With regard to the issues to which you have referred, we, God willing, will find the solutions. We consider this to be one of the problems facing the new government. We have to give the impression that the political issues are moving toward a solution, but without exclusion, and through extending the hand to all sides that are prepared to serve the country. We hope that the government will appear as one that is by all and for all, and not a government that has come to exact revenge. The government does not intend to exact revenge or settle accounts. We hope that this will be achieved. And everyone will serve without one side claiming to have a monopoly of the truth.
(Hatitah) But some people are afraid of the exclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood Group represented by its Freedom and Justice Party, and the Salafi tendency represented by the Al-Nur Party and the Al-Watan Party?
(Al-Biblawi) As I have said to you, the fundamental part is steering away from exclusion, and from settling accounts. The country is open to all, as long as everybody believes in the need for security, stability and also in not excluding the other.
(Hatitah) Can we say that you mean that the government is extending its hand to all, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi tendency?
(Al-Biblawi) Egypt is for all Egyptians. I do not assess anyone according to his political aims or his ideology. The country belongs to all Egyptians, and they have the right to believe in what they consider to be in the interest of the country, but without using violence, without exclusion, and without threats. As for the country, it has to be open to all directions.
(Hatitah) What are the dossiers you consider to be urgent, and on which you consider that the new government ought to start working?
(Al-Biblawi) It is unfair to tell you about them now, i.e. before the completion of the formation of the government, and before there is a meeting of the council of ministers in which I sit with them, and listen to them. Such decisions about the priorities and other issues are supposed to be taken through the council of ministers, which will include more than one opinion, and which ends up after the discussions with a collective opinion. However, if I tell you, I will tell you about my opinions of what ought to be done.
(Hatitah) Well, what is your personal vision of the current situation in Egypt? What will you do?
(Al-Biblawi) We have to restore reassurance to all, to restore the feeling that the country belongs to all and not to one faction and not another, and that there is no place for exclusion or settlement of accounts. This is one thing; however, committing crimes and violating security is another issue, an issue that is dealt with according to the law, but no one ought to be punished because he adopts a specific ideology as long as this is within the domain of thinking and opinions. If this is the situation, then everything is legitimate and required.
(Hatitah) It is circulating that detention warrants have been issued for politicians, despite the fact that the authorities have emphasized several times that these are not detentions, but they are arrests of individuals wanted and accused at the order of the Public Prosecution Authority according to the law. What is your comment?
(Al-Biblawi) These are no detentions in the sense of detention at the order of the executive authority. However, if the issue is in the hands of the judiciary, then even before the accused is put on trial, the Public Prosecution Authority has the right to place the accused under provisional arrest pending investigations, and has the right to renew the provisional arrest until the investigations are completed; this is because of the fear of the evidence getting lost and other issues. This is not detention; the detention takes place away from the judicial authority and away from the Public Prosecution, and this is not occurring. When a murderer is arrested, he is placed by the order of the Public Prosecution under provisional arrest pending investigation, and is not considered guilty until after the trial and the issuing of a final judicial ruling about him.
(Hatitah) Does this mean that the concept of resorting to detentions does not exist since the arrival of interim President Adli Mansur, and it will not exist during the era of your government?
(Al-Biblawi) Naturally I hope so…
(Hatitah) In the west the term “military coup d`etat” emerged in describing what happened in Egypt on 30 June 2013, and what followed it of ousting the former president. Do you consider yourself to be a prime minister of the 30 June revolution, which is described as an extension of the 25 January 2011 revolution, or to be the prime minister of the “coup d`etat” as it is claimed?
(Al-Biblawi) I have not seen a “coup d`etat” except in the foreign newspapers. What I know is that there was a political system in the country, but that system adopted a course that angered a large number of citizens, and hence they took to the streets in their millions to an extent that has no equal in history. Tens of millions took to the streets not only in Cairo or the capitals of the Egyptian governorates, but also across the entire Egypt everywhere. It was clear that these huge masses stationed in the squares and streets wanted to change the political system. This continued for several days, and nearly became a danger to the safety of the entire country, to both those who reject the regime and those who accept it; thus, the army intervened to protect the state institutions, and then it immediately established an interim civil system in which the state is presided over by the chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court, and it calls for forming an interim government in order to pave the way for drawing up the Constitution, and holding the elections. Therefore, where is the military action?!
The only role played by the army in this process was to respond to a popular demand expressed by the millions that gathered in the streets and the squares to an extent that threatened the institutions, and threatened life itself. There is a big difference between the army taking the initiative by seizing power, and the army responding to the demands of 30 million citizens demonstrating in the streets.
Al-Biblawi in Brief:
– Born in October 1936.
– Graduated in the Faculty of Law of Cairo University in 1957.
– Obtained post-graduate degree in political economy and general law.
– Obtained Doctorate in economics in 1964 (Paris University).
– Worked as adviser to the Kuwaiti minister of finance until the beginning of the eighties of the last century.
– In 1983 he chaired the Egyptian Bank for Developing Exports.
– In the eighties was awarded French Legion of Honor Medal of the rank of Chevalier, and the Lebanese National Order of the Cedar.
– In 1995 Al-Biblawi was appointed as UN deputy secretary general (for economic affairs).
– In 2001 he worked as adviser to the Arab Monetary Fund in Abu Dhabi.
– After the 25 January 2011 revolution Al-Biblawi was selected as deputy prime minister for economic affairs and minister of finance.
(Description of Source: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat Online in Arabic — London Al-Sharq al-Awsat Online in Arabic — Website of influential London-based pan-Arab Saudi daily; editorial line reflects Saudi official stance; URL: http://www.asharqalawsat.com/)
Al-Biblawi explains that Egypt has returned to its original character that a(euro)oeconsiders the GCC countries as a political, economic, and security support.a(euro) Al-Biblawi points out that the previous regime a(euro)” led by Dr Muhammad Mursi a(euro)” when it came started to reduce the national Arab link a(euro)oefor the benefit of a wider one called the Islamic link,a(euro) and when that regime disappeared, the Arab countries returned to their character, and Egypt will go back to its character, and a(euro)oeI am very optimistic about this issue.a(euro)
Al-Biblawi talks about the political consequences witnessed in the Egyptian street, especially as regards the sit-in by the supporters of the ousted president that continues in Rabia(euro)(TM)ah al-Adawiyah district east of Cairo, and the eruption of violence in Sinai. Al-Biblawi says that the new government will work to resolve these issues without excluding anyone, because it will be a(euro)oea government for all and by all,a(euro) and a(euro)oeit has not come to take revenge or to settle accounts.a(euro) Al-Biblawi stresses that Egypt a(euro)oemust be open to all directions.a(euro)
The following is the text of the interview:
(Hatitah) What is the nature of the ministers who will be selected? We have had information that there will be two governments within the government, a security one and an economic one. Is this true?
(Al-Biblawi) It will be one government.
(Hatitah) Yes, but what is meant according to what has been said, is that there will be two basic groups within the government, one economic and the other a security group?
(Al-Biblawi) It will be an integrated government with economic aspects, security aspects, and cultural aspects, in addition to the social aspects. It will be a government consisting of all aspects, the same as any government that includes all the ministries of the state.
(Hatitah) But, according to the current reality in Egypt, there are priorities; is this not so?
(Al-Biblawi) Yes, naturally there are priorities.
(Hatitah) Such as what; are they the economy and the security?
(Al-Biblawi) Security first, then the economy.
(Hatitah) What do you think of the Arab aid that has been poured on Egypt recently, especially from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait? Can this aid help in changing the economic situation in Egypt for the better?
(Al-Biblawi) Definitely, this is not only linked to the fact that Egypt needs such aid, but it also means that the outside world, especially in the Gulf, is now considering the investment and political climate as moving toward being more suitable for cooperation. What harms the investors most is the sense of lack of clarity and of worry. This is an indication that the outside world has started to consider Egypt as getting into a clearer stage of stability.
(Hatitah) Some analysts used to consider that the Gulf countries perhaps were apprehensive about some actions by the previous regime, such as the attempt of rapprochement with Iran, while there were Egyptian policy constants such as a(euro)oethe security of the Gulf is a red line.a(euro) What do you think of the future of the relations between Egypt and the Gulf countries, especially after the Gulf aid that has been allocated to Egypt?
(Al-Biblawi) We do not consider the situation with the Gulf countries through the aid allocated to Egypt. The aid that has arrived is due to the Gulf countriesa(euro)(TM) feeling that Egypt has gone back to its original character, which considers the Gulf countries as a political, economic, and security support for Egypt. Egypt along its history has considered that it has obligations, and also expects to have rights due to it from the Arab countries. Along its entire history, or at least during the past 50 years, Egypt has been dealing on the basis that there are special relations that bind the Arab region, and that regardless of the disagreements that sometimes erupt here and there, there is always a pan-Arab interest that imposes itself on all.
This has emerged following the 1967 war (between Egypt and Israel). At that time, the most acute conflict between Arab countries was between Egypt and Saudi Arabia; however, at the Khartoum summit, the country that sponsored the idea of offering aid to Egypt was Saudi Arabia.
What I want to say is that the organic link between Egypt and the Gulf countries in particular has existed for 50 years. When the previous regime, headed by Dr Muhammad Mursi, came to power, this pan-Arab link started to weaken for the benefit of a wider link called a(euro)oethe Islamic group,a(euro) or a(euro)oethe Islamic league.a(euro) The Arab region, since the fifties and the beginning of the independence of the Arab countries, has considered that despite all the disputes that can occur among the various countries, there is a supreme value for all which considers that the stability, security, and human and economic relations within the region ought to be supreme. When the previous regime was removed, the Arab countries returned to their nature, and Egypt will return to its nature. I am very optimistic about this issue.
(Hatitah) With regard to the political events in the street, do you have a program to move them or incorporate them into the new situation? By the political events I mean the sit-in (staged by the supporters of the former president) in Rabia(euro)(TM)ah al-Adawiyah district east of Cairo, and the violent events in Sinai?
(Al-Biblawi) This is an important part that comes within the pursuit to establish an atmosphere of political security calmness. With regard to the issues to which you have referred, we, God willing, will find the solutions. We consider this to be one of the problems facing the new government. We have to give the impression that the political issues are moving toward a solution, but without exclusion, and through extending the hand to all sides that are prepared to serve the country. We hope that the government will appear as one that is by all and for all, and not a government that has come to exact revenge. The government does not intend to exact revenge or settle accounts. We hope that this will be achieved. And everyone will serve without one side claiming to have a monopoly of the truth.
(Hatitah) But some people are afraid of the exclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood Group represented by its Freedom and Justice Party, and the Salafi tendency represented by the Al-Nur Party and the Al-Watan Party?
(Al-Biblawi) As I have said to you, the fundamental part is steering away from exclusion, and from settling accounts. The country is open to all, as long as everybody believes in the need for security, stability and also in not excluding the other.
(Hatitah) Can we say that you mean that the government is extending its hand to all, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi tendency?
(Al-Biblawi) Egypt is for all Egyptians. I do not assess anyone according to his political aims or his ideology. The country belongs to all Egyptians, and they have the right to believe in what they consider to be in the interest of the country, but without using violence, without exclusion, and without threats. As for the country, it has to be open to all directions.
(Hatitah) What are the dossiers you consider to be urgent, and on which you consider that the new government ought to start working?
(Al-Biblawi) It is unfair to tell you about them now, i.e. before the completion of the formation of the government, and before there is a meeting of the council of ministers in which I sit with them, and listen to them. Such decisions about the priorities and other issues are supposed to be taken through the council of ministers, which will include more than one opinion, and which ends up after the discussions with a collective opinion. However, if I tell you, I will tell you about my opinions of what ought to be done.
(Hatitah) Well, what is your personal vision of the current situation in Egypt? What will you do?
(Al-Biblawi) We have to restore reassurance to all, to restore the feeling that the country belongs to all and not to one faction and not another, and that there is no place for exclusion or settlement of accounts. This is one thing; however, committing crimes and violating security is another issue, an issue that is dealt with according to the law, but no one ought to be punished because he adopts a specific ideology as long as this is within the domain of thinking and opinions. If this is the situation, then everything is legitimate and required.
(Hatitah) It is circulating that detention warrants have been issued for politicians, despite the fact that the authorities have emphasized several times that these are not detentions, but they are arrests of individuals wanted and accused at the order of the Public Prosecution Authority according to the law. What is your comment?
(Al-Biblawi) These are no detentions in the sense of detention at the order of the executive authority. However, if the issue is in the hands of the judiciary, then even before the accused is put on trial, the Public Prosecution Authority has the right to place the accused under provisional arrest pending investigations, and has the right to renew the provisional arrest until the investigations are completed; this is because of the fear of the evidence getting lost and other issues. This is not detention; the detention takes place away from the judicial authority and away from the Public Prosecution, and this is not occurring. When a murderer is arrested, he is placed by the order of the Public Prosecution under provisional arrest pending investigation, and is not considered guilty until after the trial and the issuing of a final judicial ruling about him.
(Hatitah) Does this mean that the concept of resorting to detentions does not exist since the arrival of interim President Adli Mansur, and it will not exist during the era of your government?
(Al-Biblawi) Naturally I hope so.
(Hatitah) You have a thorny dossier, which is the situation in Sinai. As a 100 percent Egyptian, who is well known to follow up the events par excellence and permanently, how can a solution be found for the critical situation in Sinai?
(Al-Biblawi) I am not in government yet, and hence so far I derive my information from the newspapers. First of all there has to be available information. I believe that this issue is under the control of the army and the police; they have a certain amount of information, and they have to handle this issue and act according to the information available to them.
(Hatitah) Among the issues that emerge from the international reports is that also there is apprehension in the outside world with regard to the Suez Canal, and the impact of the political consequences in Egypt on the security of the Canal, as it is to a great extent an important international navigation passageway. Do you think that this passageway might be exposed to any problems because of the current security conditions?
(Al-Biblawi) This is impossible. With regard to the importance of the Suez Canal, I say as much as it is important for the world, it is more important for Egypt, because the credibility of Egypt is linked to the Canal. Egypt is bound by a treaty that goes back to 1899 that guarantees the freedom of navigation, and Egypt has never violated this at any time, and has never violated the freedom of navigation. In the brief periods during which the navigation stopped, this was because of wars that Egypt had not started.
It has never happened at any time, whether we had problems or disputes with a neighbor, with a superpower such as Britain, or in a state of war with Israel, that the Egyptian Government has stopped the navigation in the Suez Canal. The navigation was only suspended when Egypt was exposed to aggression from foreign sides that led to damage to the Canal, but in every case as soon as the aggression ended Egypt has been the fastest country in reopening the Suez Canal. The freedom of navigation in the Suez Canal is not only an international requirement, but it has purely Egyptian importance, and securing the Canal against any targeting is one of the priorities of the government.
(Hatitah) It seems that there is a problem that gives the Egyptians sleepless nights, namely the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which can affect Egypta(euro)(TM)s quota of the waters of the River Nile, and its relations with the countries of the Nile Basin. How do you see the way that Egypt ought to deal with this dossier?
(Al-Biblawi) First of all, this is one of the issues in which the neighboring countries are subject to mutual commitments. All the rivers that pass through more than one country are governed by stable international conventions. I believe that this issue ought to be studied within the framework of Ethiopiaa(euro)(TM)s right to develop its water resources and its resources of electric energy in a way that gives it the resources for economic growth provided that this does not cause harm to another country. This is stipulated in any legal system, whether it is a domestic or international system. This dossier ought to be managed within the framework of mutual understanding, and within the framework of the fact that there are interests for every country, but there are restrictions, namely that the interests of any country cannot be achieved at the expense of inflicting damage to another country.
(Hatitah) In the west the term a(euro)oemilitary coup da(euro)(TM)etata(euro) emerged in describing what happened in Egypt on 30 June 2013, and what followed it of ousting the former president. Do you consider yourself to be a prime minister of the 30 June revolution, which is described as an extension of the 25 January 2011 revolution, or to be the prime minister of the a(euro)oecoup da(euro)(TM)etata(euro) as it is claimed?
(Al-Biblawi) I have not seen a a(euro)oecoup da(euro)(TM)etata(euro) except in the foreign newspapers. What I know is that there was a political system in the country, but that system adopted a course that angered a large number of citizens, and hence they took to the streets in their millions to an extent that has no equal in history. Tens of millions took to the streets not only in Cairo or the capitals of the Egyptian governorates, but also across the entire Egypt everywhere. It was clear that these huge masses stationed in the squares and streets wanted to change the political system. This continued for several days, and nearly became a danger to the safety of the entire country, to both those who reject the regime and those who accept it; thus, the army intervened to protect the state institutions, and then it immediately established an interim civil system in which the state is presided over by the chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court, and it calls for forming an interim government in order to pave the way for drawing up the Constitution, and holding the elections. Therefore, where is the military action?!
The only role played by the army in this process was to respond to a popular demand expressed by the millions that gathered in the streets and the squares to an extent that threatened the institutions, and threatened life itself. There is a big difference between the army taking the initiative by seizing power, and the army responding to the demands of 30 million citizens demonstrating in the streets. Al-Biblawi in Brief:
– Born in October 1936.
– Graduated in the Faculty of Law of Cairo University in 1957.
– Obtained post-graduate degree in political economy and general law.
– Obtained Doctorate in economics in 1964 (Paris University).
– Worked as adviser to the Kuwaiti minister of finance until the beginning of the eighties of the last century.
– In 1983 he chaired the Egyptian Bank for Developing Exports.
– In the eighties was awarded French Legion of Honor Medal of the rank of Chevalier, and the Lebanese National Order of the Cedar.
– In 1995 Al-Biblawi was appointed as UN deputy secretary general (for economic affairs).
– In 2001 he worked as adviser to the Arab Monetary Fund in Abu Dhabi.
– After the 25 January 2011 revolution Al-Biblawi was selected as deputy prime minister for economic affairs and minister of finance.
(Description of Source: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat Online in Arabic — London Al-Sharq al-Awsat Online in Arabic — Website of influential London-based pan-Arab Saudi daily; editorial line reflects Saudi official stance; URL: http://www.asharqalawsat.com/) “
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