It is natural that in a parliamentary democracy, whoever is in Opposition will find that the glass is half empty, if not totally. Whoever is in government will see it the other way round.

Democracy is in part theatre, and that is how it should be. In this way, matters that are of vital interest to families and citizens get projected in ways they can understand and around which they can mobilise.

The maturity of a democracy is demonstrated when all understand the limits of whatever action is being undertaken, while also respecting what I would call (and I believe in it) the national interest.

A government which restricts the initiatives of the Opposition such that it cannot function properly is going beyond these limits.

The same applies to the Opposition when it projects its message by adopting a scorched earth policy, like the Russians did to counter Napoleon’s drive towards Moscow. 

The damage done in both cases is far reaching, and continues to be felt even when a current Opposition gets back to government and vice versa.

***

Corbyn

Well, that’s how it is. We have to accept the verdict of those who know.

With Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Party Leader for the second time in a year, the British Labour Party is accepting it will not win the next UK general elections. To make it clear, all opinion polls carried out in the country at large confirm this verdict.

Still I feel great sympathy towards Labour’s “new” direction. At least it is focussing on values that socialists have always upheld.

In their day, the ideas advanced by Tony Blair and friends were irresistible. They delivered splendid electoral wins to the Labour Party and due to governmental action, they delivered social improvements in the lives of many families, as well as grievous mistakes (with the Iraqi war topping the list).

However they drove the balance of political power greatly towards occult financial interests, which respond to the “blind”urges of the “free” market (and which are anything but blind).

I admire and agree with Corbyn’s agenda to recover a “new” balance in this equation, even if it is clear that he will not succeed. Or who knows, perhaps...

***

Egypt

Times are tough in Egypt.

The economy is stalling. One just needs to recall how badly tourism was hit by the deadly terrorist attacks in the Sinai. The removal of subsidies on products in daily use, in the name of economic liberalisation as recommendedby “Western” experts, would continue to further stoke inflation and popular disaffection.

President Sisi’s government is determined to keep the Mulsim Brotherhood in check and preserve a Moslem but not an Islamist state. It is doing so in an authoritarian, sometime repressive manner, bringing upon it occasionally the censure of Europeans, among others.

Arab countries as well as Mediterranean states share a deep interest in seeing Egypt remain politically and economically stable, indeed become stronger. It would then serve as an anchor of stability and a model for the region overall. It should be able to do so without stifling the multicultural currents which have always made of the country a great one.