A new Arab League may emerge after Arab Spring

Maggie Hyde
Thu, 14/04/2011

As Egypt grapples with forming new governments in the parliament and the presidential palace, another Cairo institution is seeing the balance of power tipping: The Arab League.

Five of the six secretaries general since the League of Arab States’ formation in 1945 have been Egyptians, but a non-Egyptian candidate is now being seriously considered, and the Egyptian candidate nominated by the country's ruling military council seems to lack popular support and is tainted by his ties to the old regime.

Qatar has said it will nominate Abdel Rahman al-Atiyyah, former secretary general of the Gulf Co-operation Council, to replace Amr Moussa as secretary general of the league after he leaves on May 15. Moussa has said he plans to make a bid for the Egyptian presidency after he leaves the post.

Qatar‘s regional influence has grown in recent years, as the oil-rich Gulf monarchy has tried to act as a mediator on issues from the conflict in Darfur to reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions. Along the way, Qatar regularly came into conflict with Mubarak’s Egypt.

On Monday, Egypt announced its replacement nominee as Mostafa al-Fiqqi, a former minister and prominent member of the National Democratic Party. His nomination was scorned by the 6 April movement, one of the key organizers behind Egypt's protests.

"We do not accept that the government, which represents the revolution, nominates a person who served the corrupt regime for years and worked on improving its image through promoting it on political, cultural, and media levels," a statement issued by the group said.

As countries throughout the Arab world have erupted in revolt against their autocratic regimes, many wonder if Egypt will remain the major political player in the league and the region.

"I think Egypt will emerge as the most important Arab country, for sure," said Salman Shaikh, the director of the Brookings Institute in Doha, Qatar.

"But within this period of transition, there is a possibility that we will have leadership of the Arab League going to an individual not from Egypt."

So far Syria has publicly backed the nomination of an Egyptian for the position, but other members have yet to voice their support for any nominees.

The introduction of a new secretary general comes at a time when Egypt seems to be re-evaluating its foreign policy, which, under Mubarak, was largely supportive of U.S. goals in the region and staunchly anti-Iranian. The new Egyptian government may prove a more flexible player.

The nomination of a new Arab League secretary general may signify the new direction of the league, which has been criticized in the past for being divided and weak in its policies.

The group's condemnation of Muammar Qadhafi's use of violence against citizens and subsequent revoking of Libya's membership could presage a new Arab League, one that is not bogged down by diplomacy and has teeth, said Shaikh. The league also supported the NATO-imposed no-fly zone over Libya.

"They were pretty far out there on the Libyan issue," Shaikh said. "It has to be much more representative now, because its members will be representing more democratic states."

A key player in the region's politics, the league's new leadership could influence its role in the Israel-Palestine conflict and the US-led operations in Iraq.

Some say the new secretary general should not be Egyptian above all else, but, more importantly, should be removed from the old regimes and clean of corruption.

In a post on The Arabist blog, Middle East analyst and Al-Masry Al-Youm contributor Issandr El Amrani called Egypt's appointment of al-Fiqqi "an outrage."

"This is not a sign of a new Egypt," he wrote. "It would be better to have a candidate from another country, such as Qatar's candidate who while perhaps no democrat at least has the experience of having run the GCC."

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/400136.