Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Featured on Press TV News Analysis: 'Egyptians Must Maintain Vigilance'

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, appearing on the Press TV News Analysis program on September 30, 2011. The topic was on the 'Reclaiming the Revolution' protests in Egypt., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

'Egyptians must maintain vigilance'

Interview with the Editor of Pan-African News Wire, Abayomi Azikiwe

To watch this interview just click on the website below:
http://presstv.com/detail/202115.html

Sat Oct 1, 2011 9:8AM GMT

It is essential for the Egyptian people who actually led the revolutionary movement to maintain vigilance, a Pan-African journalist said.

Egyptians are angry over the fact that the same group of generals, who came to power in February with promise of relinquishing power to a civilian government within six months, are still running the show.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Editor of the Pan-African News Wire, Abayomi Azikiwe, to further talk over the issue.

The following is a rush transcription of the interview:

Press TV: There are questions about the legitimacy of this law. Protesters are saying it's not legal since the authority of the military rulers is under question since people having not been consulted about that law. Are there serious questions now about the legitimacy of Egypt's military rulers and therefore the rules and the laws they put forth?

Azikiwe: Obviously there are very serious concerns about the electoral laws that have been drafted and put forwarded and are being implemented by the Supreme Military Council, under military leadership of Field Marshal General Tantawi. From what we understand there are about sixty organizations today that had supported the demonstration that took place in Tahrir Square, there were thousands involved in these demonstrations, and the organizations feel very strongly, that the provisions for one- third of parliamentary seats being designated for “independent” candidates, is a mechanism for the reentry into the Egyptian political life of the National Democratic Party leadership and operatives.

That party has dominated the Egyptian political life for over three decades, and of course Mubarak, who is still under a lot of scrutiny by the people of inside Egypt, many people feel that his party will utilize that one third set aside to re-enter Egyptian politics, and in a way to dominate the future of Egyptian politics. Because we have to understand that the military was the key component of Mubarak's regime, he came out of the military, the military structure there.

Press TV: Mr. Azikiwe, do you think there is strong need now for the second wave of a revolutionary movement, people are saying they want to reclaim the spirit of the revolution. Do you think people are becoming too hasty about this, and that they should rather stop right now and let the process move forward? Or do you think it is necessary at this point in time to keep up the pressure, to at least do something, to make the upcoming election more fair; fairer than it could be without these pressures?

Azikiwe: I believe it is essential for the people inside of Egypt who actually organized and led the revolutionary movement that brought about the resignation of Hosni Mubarak to maintain vigilance. If they do not maintain that vigilance, it appears that the military and people from the previous government will attempt to dominate the entire political process.

We also have to keep in mind the role of the US in this whole process. There was a meeting recently between the Foreign Minister of Egypt, and Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State of the US, and they are attempting (that is Washington) in a sense to micro-manage the whole political transition process.

They want to maintain very close relationships with the Egyptian military and any government that may come to power in Egypt. The Supreme Military Council, under extreme pressure from the US, is trying to maintain some type of political stability inside Egypt. We also have to look at the role of state of Israel as well.

Now we know that there were reports recently indicating that the Israeli government may want to move military forces back to the Sinai in response to a number of attacks that happened to the gas pipeline that supplies natural gas from Egypt to Israel. And off course this was a major concern as well for the revolutionaries inside Egypt. The US wants to maintain some stability there. Because they realize there is a lot at stake in political future of Egypt vis-a-vis the role of the US in North Africa and throughout the Middle East. There are a number issues that have to be resolved.

Press TV:Mr. Azikiwe, people are on street and saying, okay the six month is over now, why is transition process still not happening, why do we see more and more control from the military rulers? Why are we seeing these restrictions in the media etc.? Do you think that a three to four year period is required, is this something that people would accept? Or is there going to be a confrontation [with military], similar to the revolution against Mubarak?

Azikiwe: I do not believe that people will accept an extension of the transitional process in regard to politics in Egypt. The real democratic issues, and this is very important for the people to understand, that even here in the US, even though we purportedly have a democratic system, the issues involving war and peace, the economy, the mass media, are largely detemined outside the democratic process.

The majority of the people in the US oppose the Afghan and the Iraq wars, but these wars have continued. The Afghan war next month is going to be 10 years old. The mass media here in this country is largely controlled by a group of transnational corporations. So I think even the people of Egypt in looking at democracies in other parts of the world, even in the West, realized that people inside of Egypt have to be empowered to make basic fundamental democratic decisions about the military, its role in society, how the economy is going to be structured regarding re-building Egypt as a proud, independent and sovereign nation in North Africa and the Middle East.

And also what role is the media going to play in the overall transition. These are some very important questions, and that is why today, it was announced that the youth have organizations in the US that are aligned themselves with the organizations in Egypt, it is called October 2011Coalition. They are going to be occupying Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C. starting on October 6, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Afghan War. So these democratic issues are relevant to the revolution that is going on in Egypt.