فرانسوا باسيلي

Today in Alquds you can read:

إلى البرادعي: لا تغيير بلا قائد، فهل ستقود؟
فرانسوا باسيلي

In this article the writer is attacking البرادعي accusing him that is hesitating to lead and is asking him to be like Ghandi or MLK and do not wait for the Egyptian people to move but instead starts the move by himself!!

I think the writer is wrong. البرادعي is already leading. The idea of the 7 demands that attracted 70,000 on www.taghyeer.net (I am one of those who signed very early on; my number is less than 20,000 :)) and another 80,000 on MB site http://www.tawkatonline.com/ is what exactly needed for now.

It is not easy for people to shed their fear and sign. It took me few days myself before I realize that my duties toward my family and country is much more serious than my fear. I had to make sure that my country is a good place for my family to liveand that would not happen if I am afraid of even asking for these rights from the NDP government. Signing this petition was a turning point; very similar to the turning point in the the Happy Life of Francis Macomber (short story by Earnst Hamingway). Every Egyptian needs this turning point where he/she says it is OK, you can jail me, here is my name, ID number, ... go ahead, I just want my country to be free and I am ok with being jailed for few weeks/years for this to happen.

Rather than listening to فرانسوا باسيلي and try to be Nelson Mandala, البرادعي is doing a much smarter thing, he is turning every one of us (Egyptians) into a Mandala. It is working!

Just like Francis Macomber become a free man after facing his fears, we will soon all become free from fear after signing the petition.

Now for the rest of the charges that فرانسوا باسيلي wrote like:

1- لم يعد الوقت يسمح بمزيد من السفريات خارج مصر
Really?? Are you serious. To lead means that you cannot travel and tell the world what is going inside your country? I do not think so!

2- تأخر أو تراخي البرادعي إلى اهدار هذا المخزون الهائل من التأييد والشوق المتأجج للتغيير
Really? Are you even reading the news lately. البرادعي has made very smart move recently by attracting the MB into his camp. This will change the game and put the NDP into a very weak position (80,000 signature in only few days, compared with 70,000 in few months on www.taghyeer.net, just amazing!!). This move may have angered many west-leaning Egyptians and made them skeptic about the future ahead. Do not! This is a must-take step. There is no change without MB and البرادعي is doing it right.

In short البرادعي is doing it right and the reason why I am trusting him is that he is not asking for any thing for himself. That is the only guarantee to succeed in public life.

To lead a change you need an army of free men/women. البرادعيis making this army now.
So hands-off the man (at least until the change is here!!)