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| The Regional Director of "Friedrich Naumann": We do not deal with parties |
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Ronald Meinardus, the Regional Director of the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation, denied that the foundation funds any party activities in Egypt.
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 The Regional Director of Friedrich Naumann to "Al Mal": We are trying to Egyptianize liberal discourse and we do not deal with parties
Many questions were posed by Al Mal to Dr. Ronal Meinardus, the Regional Director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in the Middle East. Topics ranged from the involvement of foreign donor organizations in funding Egyptian political institutions whether they be parties or political movements, to the reality of Egyptian liberalism in the light of the current situation of the political reform movements, and the current position of liberalism on a global level after all the criticisms directed at it from all directions following the global economic crisis. For those who do not know, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty is a liberal political foundation which was established in 1958 by Theodor Heuss who was the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Foundation aims to spread liberal thought and support individual freedom through a network of institutes affiliated with the Foundation inside Germany and offices which span 60 countries all over the world. The Foundation has been represented in Egypt since the 1970s and is engaged in a number of projects which aim to support and spread liberal thought. The Foundation has also has an important role in creating the Network of Arab Liberals which raised a lot of issues when it was first inaugurated. At the beginning we asked Dr. Meinardus about the size and sources of the Foundation's funding and the truth about rumors of funding from the Free Democratic Party in Germany as well as the use of the Foundation's funds and Egypt's share in them. He answered that the Friedrich Naumann Foundation is wealthier than the Free Democratic Party in Germany and receives its funding from the German Parliament just like a number of other German political institutions and estimated the size of the Foundation's funds at 40 million Euros yearly, half of which is spent inside Germany and the other half outside Germany. The Middle East as a region comes second place after Eastern Europe in terms of Friedrich Naumann's spending, said Dr. Meinardus, adding that he would attempt to increase Egypt's share of these funds in coming years, noting that he believes that money is important in the Egyptian situation, but that it is not everything. On the rumors about the Foundation's engagement in funding some of the activities of the Democratic Front Party and the Foundation's position on funding political activities in Egypt, Meinardus clarified that Friedrich Naumann does not fund any party activities including those of the Democratic Front, pointing out that the Foundation respects Egyptian laws which forbid funding of political activities as well as German laws which prohibit funding any activities of political forces. He also pointed to the fact that there are agencies in Germany responsible for supervising the expenditures of Friedrich Naumann to ensure that no laws are violated and that Friedrich Naumann's funds are considered public funds in Germany and the German government must ensure that this money is being used towards the goals for which it was directed. Regarding the Democratic Front Party's "Liberal Days" project in Egypt's different governorates which was described in some media reports as funded by Germany, Meinardus indicated that the ongoing confusion in some Egyptian media regarding the nature of the relationship between the Foundation and the Democratic Front Party is a result of the strong relationships which tie the Foundation with the Party and other liberal parties. He explained that there are a number of educational projects which the Foundation adopts with its local partners in civil society such as the "Egyptian Liberal Vision" project and that there are party members which participate in these projects, indicating that at the end of the day it is liberal individuals who are targeted by the Foundation's projects. Meinardus added that some of the Foundation's projects do not only target liberals, such as those projects which take place in cooperation with the National Council for Youth and the Egyptian Radio and Television Union which aim to improve the technical competencies of persons working in media. Asked about the role of Friedrich Naumann in a local organization (the Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth) joining the network of Liberal International, Meinardus answered that Friedrich Naumann tries to support Egyptian organizations which seek membership in international liberal networks, especially since Egypt suffers from weak representation in such networks. He continued that the Egyptian Union for Liberal Youth is the first Egyptian organization to join the network of Liberal International, and that Friedrich Naumann helped by hosting the vice president of the International Federation of Liberal Youth in Egypt and finalizing the process of the Egyptian liberal organization joining the network, indicating that joining liberal networks will enhance the position of Egyptian liberals and make them stronger. When asked about the statements made by some Egyptian liberal figures saying that Friedrich Naumann was trying to recreate the idea of Arab nationalism once more through the network of Arab liberal political parties which the Foundations had the primary role in imitating, Dr. Ronald answered that the time has not yet come to judge the newly born liberal network which hasn't held more than ten meetings so far. He stressed that the Foundation was proud to have contributed to the first joint Arab liberal projects, adding that many issues must be discussed in the network in the light of that question so that the first Arab liberal congregation might have some successes. Regarding the opportunities open to the process of democratic transformation and his assessment of this process through his close interaction with the Egyptian reality, Ronald indicated that through his observations of what is happening in Egypt and in accordance with the Foundation's local partners including activists and civil society institutions, the political stage in Egypt is in a state of anticipation, as analysts and observers have agreed that the current time period is the closest to a state of transition. Meinardus added that Egypt is now seeing greater openness on the economic level and that there are rapid steps towards liberating the economy, even though the pace of political reform is not as fast. Meinardus stressed the fact that Egyptian liberals are trapped in between the regime and the Islamists, pointing out that the moderate and centrist liberal position on the political map makes them prone to being surrounded by forces from either side and explaining that the political party reality in Egypt is that most Egyptians do not participate in politics as a result of apathy towards the political process which gives a misleading picture about the true power of any political faction. Meinardus considered that the crisis of Egyptian liberals lies in liberal discourse because there is no clear definition of liberal principles offered to the average citizen added to the fact that Egyptian liberals refer to Western examples most of the time to prove the validity of their theories, which raises sensitivities in many sectors of Egyptian society. He indicated that the Foundation has a vision of Egyptianizing and Arabizing certain Western concepts in order to create a nationalist liberal discourse, adding that the Foundation is about to start a competition for liberal Egyptians encouraging them to write essays explaining why they are liberal which the foundation will publish in a book. Meinardus pointed out that this interview was the first time the competition has been discussed in the media. He added that the division of liberals in society is not indicative of a crisis but can be considered a great challenge for liberal forces which are betting on having a role in the political reform process. On the violent criticisms directed towards liberalism after the global financial crisis and the emergence of writers who have declared the retreat of the capitalist wave in the world, Meinardus explained that if we reduce liberal values to their economic expressions, then we can say that liberalism is over, but liberalism includes great freedom and respect for others' freedoms as well as a number of other social and economic values, stressing that liberalism admits to human error but the important thing is that we learn from our mistakes. Meinardus pointed out that the crisis of financial markets which struck at the end of last year revealed that there was something wrong with the way the economic process was being run. In Meinardus' assessment, liberalism came out with many gains after the last crisis given that those who call for a greater role for the state in the economic process now have the upper hand, and indicating that the new American president Barack Obama is considered a supporter of a greater role for the state in management of the economy. |
Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty in Egypt : www.fnst-egypt.org
