Commenting on my previous post, a Twitter friend said that the list of 50 names I nominated for drafting the constitution is not "representative". It has too many leftist fiction writers, very few "centrist" figures, and no business/industry people.
And he's right of course. The point of the list was to demonstrate how easy it is for an individual to draw one up. And by inference, how even easier it would be for political and civil-society entities.
The list itself was rather personal, in the sense that I chose people I simply like, people who in my humble opinion would do a good job of drafting a good constitution, enabling this country to move, at long last, forward.
Still, the nagging demon of pride is egging me on: how dare he criticize "your" list? And what is this "representation" he's harping on? And what exactly does "centrist" mean? And so on and so forth.
OK, dear demon, simmer down. I will try to air some of your grievances, albeit in a slightly more rational way.
As regards representation: if one list of names, designed for a constitutional assembly, could be representative of the variety and diversity of a society like ours, then what would be the point of electing such an assembly? Just choose the "most representative" list and be done with it.
About centrism, I just think the term is relative to the point of uselessness. Some people consider M. S. Al-Awwa centrist. Go figure.
As for the leftist fiction writers, I like to think that those I included are not just any fiction writers. And a certain way of looking at constitutions regards them as fictions, "supreme" or founding fictions. It's only fitting that writers of fiction should have a say in writing "up" this one. And really, to have our constitution phrased by Edouar El-Kharrat, the Arabic stylist of our time, won't we at least have a piece of fine literature, if nothing else?
Finally comes the business/industry part. Believe me, I tried. God knows, we have no shortage of "business" people here, but finding more than one or two of them who seem to genuinely care for the commonwealth has proven to be exceedingly difficult. Industry? I hope I live to see the day when Egyptian industry brings us self-sufficiency in just one of the truly vital areas of food security, pharmaceuticals, or heavy manufacturing. 