El Eleimy Fires Up the House

In a press conference in Port Said on Friday, the Free Egyptians’ party MP Eleimy accused the military leaders of being responsible for the violence and deaths after the February 1 Ahly and Masry football game. He wasn’t saying anything that hadn’t already been said and repeated by hundreds before him — at least up until he referred to the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) in the Egyptian proverb ‘They couldn’t do anything to the donkey, so they bullied his saddle.’

This, critics said, was an insult to the nation’s defacto rulers. Many were incensed the MP referred the defacto rules as a barnyard animal. If that weren’t enough, Eleimy has also been accused of insulting Salafi Sheikh Mohamed Hassan in comments criticizing Hassan’s initiative to collect donations for Egypt’s economy from everyone, even vegetable sellers.

Granted, Eleimy probably didn’t mean to directly insult SCAF —  no one, let alone a public figure, in his right mind would go around in public calling SCAF names.

Eleimy, like many others, was simply holding SCAF, as the defacto rulers, responsible for the Port Said soccer violence. But the young MP’s short time in politics has clearly not given him the rhetorical skills that more experienced politicians use to make accusations, criticism and even insults sometimes without drawing libel and defamation charges.

Within hours, the video of Eleimy’s speech spread across the Internet and YouTube and by Sunday, MPs had reportedly received thousands of letters, emails and phone calls criticizing Eleimy’s behavior. In Sunday’s session, People’s Assembly (PA) Speaker and former Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson Saad El Katatny asked Eleimy for an apology, stressing that there’s a difference between freedom of speech and pure insults.

Eleimy offered an indirect apology to Hassan, but insisted he hadn’t insulted SCAF and was simply using the proverb to make a point. This set off shouting matches between those supporting Eleimy’s freedom of speech and those heavily criticizing him. When El Katatny insisted on a direct apology from Eleimy, the MP responded again with “I am sorry if I was misunderstood,” and insisted that he wasn’t insulting Hassan. Asked a third time for an apology, Eleimy said he is ready to deal with the consequences. El Katatny has referred Eleimy to the PA committee for investigations. Later that night, PA Secretary Ashraf Sabet announced that Eleimy is to make an official apology in today’s session. He hasn’t, until press time, apologized and said on his Facebook page that he has nothing further to apologize about.

On the street, public opinion covers the spectrum from those who think Eleimy should have issued an official apology to those who criticized his manner but not the content of his speech, to what people thought about El Katatny’s reaction. Perhaps most the most telling part of this whole episode is that five out of the ten people Egypt Today spoke to didn’t even know about the incident at all — perhaps people have finally had enough of Parliament’s daily drama?

“What happened from Eleimy is unforgivable, there was a great deal of [disrespect] and we criticize heavily those who pass criticism and accusations disrespectfully. […] This should be a lesson for others on how to express themselves according to the values that we want to instill for our future; the concept of respect in conversations has to be instilled in our culture early on. […] El Katatny’s reaction was correct. Normally for Parliament to take action those insulted need to submit an official complaint, but this has become a matter of public opinion and so the reaction needs to be announced publicly as well, especially that Parliament is now playing a special and untraditional role given the circumstances we’re in. ”

- Ayman Abd El Wahab, head of the Civil Society Unit at the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

“Lately [people and Parliament] have been focusing on really minor issues and ignoring the real ones. And if they want Eleimy to apologize, well then we need half of the Parliament to apologize for insulting the revolution, Mohamed El Baradei, and others.”

- Sara Yehia, 28, account manager

“We all know whom he meant with the proverb and how it can be interpreted. This was lack of political experience on his side; it is also a kind of cockiness that makes him think he can get away with anything. […] El Eleimy put himself in a situation that he shouldn’t have, especially when he knows that with the information technology available now it will be heard everywhere. El Katatny’s reaction was absolutely right, but because there’s a general suspicion that there is a collaboration between [the Muslim Brotherhood] and the army, so his reaction could be interpreted as an overreacting to kiss up to the army because Tantawy didn’t complain or ask them to do anything.”

-Mostafa Hussein Abd El Latif, 64, professor

“I felt like El Katatny was sending Eleimy to detention room when he was saying the case be referred to the committee; you feel like he’s sending him to the principal’s office. Both El Katatny and Eleimy’s reactions were weak: Zeyad was weak and El Katatny thinks heading the Parliament means putting small kids in line and controlling the Islamists.”

-Heba El Hadidy, 34, marketing senior supervisor

“I think Eleimy should have apologized about the language he used. Even if it’s a proverb, it shouldn’t be used in that context, not in politics and in public. He’s rude, but what he is saying was right; the way to put it, however, was wrong. What he’s saying is being said by everyone on the street; that the army is responsible for the chaos what we’re in whether because SCAF is in charge or because SCAF is even plotting for it. Either way, SCAF in charge and they deserve more than what he accused them of. He can say SCAF is corrupt, unprofessional or whatever but there was no need for name-calling. I think El Katatny very professional and civilized and managed to contain the issue.”

-Yehia Abu Ali, 26, event planner.