Subscribe Today
Request a Clip
Following are excerpts from an interview with former U.N. secretary-general Boutros Boutros Ghali, which aired on Dream 2 TV on February 8, 2011.
Boutros Boutros Ghali: I could tell you that I support one side or the other, but that would be a mistake. It’s like telling somebody who is sick to drink a glass of water and take an aspirin when he is about to die. Bring him a doctor! Why don’t we want to bring a doctor or a mediator? Because of the honor of Egypt?! The honor of Egypt has been made a mockery of. Our image abroad has reached rock bottom. We are in need of a doctor, in need of a mediator.
Democracy cannot be implemented the same way in Africa, in Latin America, in France, or in Germany. Elections cannot be held the same way in France, in England, in Germany, or in a Latin American country. This is a crucial matter. 40% of the Egyptian people are illiterate. They are completely detached from all this. They have their own traditions. The African citizens trust their tribes, not their governments. Their loyalty to their tribe is much greater than their loyalty to the government. So how can democracy be implemented? What I mean to say is that democracy differs from country to country. It would be a mistake to compare the Egyptian and British parliaments.
Interviewer: Is it because the ruling party in Britain won by 51%, while the ruling party in Egypt won by 93%?
Boutros Boutros Ghali: That’s not what matters. What matters is the voters, the people behind [the elections]. This parliament emerges from the people. If the people are ignorant, with 40% of them illiterate and they do not take an interest in politics- for other reasons, I agree with you – you cannot draw a comparison.
Nobody thinks what he plans to do next. One of them says that they think will think about it when the president leaves. What do you want to do then? On the contrary, things are getting much worse. We’ve regressed ten years. Now let’s ask the other side – after you leave, what are you going to do? Therefore, my first piece of advice is to study the situation, and consider the short-term and long-term implications, because they are interconnected.
[…]