At the salon, Egyptians plan their future

Young and old Cairenes recently packed into a smoke-filled room in downtown Cairo for famed novelist Alaa Al Aswany’s first post-Mubarak salon. The anachronistic evening was a reminder of Twitterless days when people sought face-to-face communication to talk about political concerns.

Throughout Middle East history, salons such as Mr. Aswany’s have provided forums where compatriots conspired, formed alliances, and criticized their nation’s leaders. While the author has been holding salons for 15 years, it was only in the days following Hosni Mubarak's ouster that the gatherings have revolved around the real possibility of building democracy in Egypt.

“I think there is a new enlightenment,” says 60-year-old photographer Ninette. “The gathering is very important these days because it’s important to exchange ideas.”

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As Egyptians guard reforms hard-won over the past two months and push for more change, people like Aswany are making sure there are forums to discuss the democratic transition. A co-founder of opposition movement Kefeya ("Enough") and prime voice in pushing for the resignation last week of former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, his salons have been held every Thursday since Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11.

Unprecedented criticism

At the first discussion held in the giddy days following Mubarak's ouster, more than 100 political activists, academics, businessmen and youths sat in rows before Aswany and crowded shoulder-to-shoulder in the back of the room. Celebratory garland and boxes of pastries adorned a table. A man in a mint green shirt squeezed through the crowd, placing cups of Turkish coffee on ring-stained tables.

Laughter came in bursts throughout Aswany’s talk when he referred to the regime as “pets” and “darlings.” But aside from the occasional joke, his words remained largely serious and primarily political.

“Constitutions fall with regimes. So the constitution we had before cannot work for us now, especially because it is not a proper one,” Aswany said during his hour-long talk Feb. 17 in a building belonging to the center-left political party Hizb al-Karama. “It gives [a great deal of] power to the president. He's almost the president of life itself."

Such political criticism has rarely been voiced so freely here. Mubarak’s regime tried to suppress intellectuals like Aswany, even kicking him out of a café several years ago for hosting a political discussion.

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