MOHAMED ELBARADEI:WHEN Mohamed ElBaradei decided to plunge into the bear pit of Egyptian opposition politics last year, the reaction was decidedly mixed , writes ANDREW ENGLAND.
Some democracy advocates were euphoric that the Nobel laureate and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would add his global status to their flagging battle for greater reforms. Others questioned what a man who had spent more than 30 years working abroad really understood about their country and their plight.
However, ElBaradei has now emerged as a leading opposition voice after six days of unprecedented protests against veteran president Hosni Mubarak.
On Sunday he said he had a popular and political mandate to negotiate the creation of a national unity government. “It is loud and clear to everybody in Egypt that Mubarak has to leave today,” he said. “I hope that I should be in touch soon with the army and we need to work together. The army is part of Egypt.” The army is deemed key to Egypt’s future as it wields massive influence and is currently the major security force deployed on the streets. Since the 1952 revolution, all Egypt’s leaders – including Mubarak – have been military men, and ElBaradei has made no secret of his desire to break that trend.
He is no stranger to controversy – before the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq he resisted US pressure and maintained there was no “plausible indication” that Baghdad had revived its nuclear weapons programme. He then sought and gained a second term as director-general of the IAEA, which he joined in 1984 after earning a doctorate in international law from New York University.
Returning to Egypt, ElBaradei pledged last year to fight for reform, take on Mr Mubarak and run for president. But once back in his home country, the painful reality of Egyptian politics – where the legal opposition parties have traditionally been weak, divided and harassed – seemed to hit home. In an interview last year, he complained of a “culture of fear” and that he could not have a headquarters, raise funds or hold public rallies.
His campaign failed to make the headway he had anticipated, and he spent more time abroad, while government-controlled media accused him of representing foreign interests.
For ElBaradei, the dramatic shift in the Egyptian mood may provide the opening he is seeking. But it is still unclear how much popular support he can garner.
– (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)