Interviews with Mahmoud Afifi

So far, we didn’t overthrow the regime, the regime is still there, and still ruling, we just overthrew the head of the regime [referring to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak], but the rest of it is still there.

Therefore, we will continue our battle for change and overthrowing the regime with all its sectors. We are looking to purify all state institutions from the followers of the old regime. We are in a larger battle because the old regime is trying to reproduce itself. The law of political isolation hasn’t been issued yet; the members of the National [Democratic] Party created new parties and started to come back in a different way [the National Democratic Party was the party of former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak]. Thus, we will complete our battle when we finish throwing out the old regime.

Not only overthrowing the regime, but we are concerned with building a democratic, civil, modern, advanced country that respects human rights and applies social justice. This is what we are seeking in the coming period.

Through having a free, fair election, to have a powerful parliament, a new democratic constitution that we can rely on in the future, to have laws that respect public liberties, human rights and non-discrimination

This is what we are really concerned about in the coming period. A battle to build a modern, developed and democratic country.

I am optimistic regarding the coming period and situation. Our vision as a Movement is change or democratization in Egypt. We know that this won’t happen in one night; on the contrary, we are in a stage of democratic transition that will take from five to ten years, so that we are able to build genuine state institutions after purifying them from the followers of the old regime.

Thus, we have to pass these steps, one after the other, to begin to build an advanced, modern and civil country.

As I mentioned before, the coming period needs a powerful parliament, powerful laws and a powerful constitution, but at the same time, it needs us to build state institutions.

Building a powerful media, a powerful security force that doesn’t repress public freedoms, suppress opinions, and doesn’t interfere in political views but provides security and safety to society. We need more consideration to economic affairs, tourism, and the economic situation of the workers and peasants so that we begin to build a strong country that can rely on itself. A country with powerful sources of income and a powerful economy so that we get rid of unemployment and begin to have our civil expansion, and begin to have an Egyptian product that we can market to the whole world. We need to have powerful state institutions and the rule of law.

I personally will continue my battle and struggle against the regime that existed until we achieve a democratic, civil state just as we wish.

Mahmoud Afifi is an Egyptian democracy activist with the April 6th Youth Movement, a group formed in 2008 to support striking workers; afterwards, it transformed into a nationwide opposition network against Hosni Mubarak’s regime. Today, Afifi serves as the Director of the April 6th Youth Movement’s Information Office. He is a lawyer by profession and graduated from Banha University in 2006.

Afifi joined the April 6th Youth Movement in 2009 and founded the group’s chapter in Egypt’s Qalyubia governorate. There he rallied youth to take part in various awareness campaigns and street protests against the government. As part of this strategy, he engaged the poorest segments of the population and strengthened their voice in the political arena. Following his success in Qalyubia, Afifi worked to organize April 6th Youth Movement campaigns at the national level. As the government cracked down on these demonstrations, Afifi was arrested several times and even abandoned in the desert.

Prior to the Egyptian Revolution that unseated President Hosni Mubarak, Afifi coordinated with other organizations encouraging citizens to participate in a January 25, 2011 demonstration in Cairo. On that day, Afifi marched to Tahrir Square with thousands of others demanding Mubarak’s resignation and a free Egypt. The protests intensified and expanded nationwide. Almost three weeks later, on February 11, 2011, Hosni Mubarak stepped down from power ending his 30 year reign.