Alaa Al-Aswany: "Dictatorship, a virus dangerous for everyone!"

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Alaa Al-Aswany: "Dictatorship, a virus dangerous for everyone!"06/11/2020By Christian Chesnot

The famous Egyptian writer publishes "The Syndrome of the Dictatorship". In this essay, the former Cairo dentist dissects the inner workings of authoritarian regimes. Meeting in Paris to discuss his country and the Al-Sisi regime, Trump's America, the recipes of dictators and the lessons of the pandemic.

Before catching his flight to New York, Alaa Al-Aswany made an appointment with us in the lounges of his Paris hotel. Easy going and jovial, he wears a broad smile and orders coffees.The author of The Yacoubian Building has just published a new essay entitled The Syndrome of the Dictatorship, published by Actes Sud. 

Why a trial? “I need time to get out of the romantic world,” says Alaa Al-Aswany. “I need a year's break, then I write another novel.” His latest book And I ran to the Nile, published in 2018, got him in serious trouble with the Egyptian police, as well as his American exile.

"Insult to the President"

Prosecuted for "insulting the President" the writer risks prison if he returns. However, Alaa Al-Aswany knows President Al-Sisi well, who has repeatedly invited him for coffee at the Heliopolis Officers' Club.

Alaa Al-Aswany is among those who believed that the 2011 Nile Revolution would change the face of Egypt and usher in a democratic tomorrow. Caught between the military and the Islamists, the revolutionaries of Tahrir Square were crushed. And the "syndrome of the dictatorship" has locked the country.

"Why do we accept a dictatorship, wonders the former dentist turned novelist . What do dictators have in common? There is a base that I call" good citizens " who live in their bubble, who are only interested in their job, their family and football! "

So many depoliticized people who do not want change and who prefer the security of authoritarian regimes. Now, " what does revolution mean? It means destroying one world to build another. It's too much for the good citizen!"

The charismatic figure of the raïs

In the Arab world, independence gave birth to military dictatorships with the charismatic figure of the raïs at the top. “People liked Nasser even if he was not democratic", explains Alaa Al-Aswany.
"He was a great dictator but he distributed bread to the people. Saddam Hussein or Kadhafi, the same thing. But today in Egypt there is no more bread. All that is left on the table is the stick! "
In his essay, the Egyptian writer notes the lack of culture of modern autocrats and dictators , "with the exception of Mussolini, who was a journalist at the base," he notes.

And Alaa Al-Aswany to report this anecdote of an Israeli journalist asking President Mubarak if he had read " The Yacoubian Building".
The reason to answer: No, but they wrote me a report. And I think Al-Aswany is lucky not to be in jail!Banned from television and the written press in his country, the novelist therefore preferred to leave Egypt. Direction the United States where he runs a writing workshop at Dartmouth University. 

Lessons from the pandemic

When the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the planet, Alaa Al-Aswany was in Marseille in an author's residence at the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of Aix-Marseille (Iméra) to prepare his next novel.
"The story will take place in the 1960s in Alexandria, at the end of the cosmopolitan period of this Mediterranean city", confides the novelist to us, who does not want to say more.

How does he view the pandemic and the post-Covid world?

It was discovered that in the richest countries of the world, hospitals were not equipped! Western countries spend billions to manufacture weapons to kill, if we had spent a quarter of this budget on health, we would never have been in such a situation.

In this global health crisis, Alaa Al-Aswany points the finger at authoritarian regimes, which handle lies and propaganda with dexterity.

The virus of dictatorship

Dictatorships can be very dangerous, not just for their people but for everyone! Can anyone really say what happened in China? Nobody. In Egypt it is the same. In Iran. is the same. When you live in a democratic country, even when you are not happy with what the President is doing, he cannot hide the truth because there is the media, the parliament. In dictatorships, we know nothing!

What about Trump's America? The Egyptian novelist does not take gloves and bangs hard:

What is happening in the United States is a "turning point", a "breaking point". Racists who were always racists feel that they are supported, that they have their man in the White House. Trump has always used racist speech. Not just against Arabs, Muslims, Mexicans, Indians, Blacks, Chinese, against everyone!

As a former dentist, Alaa Al-Aswany dares a medical metaphor:
"When there is an abscess, you have to open it. But as soon as you open, it gives off a bad smell. I think Trump opened it. the abscess of racism and it stinks!"

The antidote to justice

Alaa Al-Aswany knows the United States well where he studied medicine and from where he drew his novel Chicago. Obviously, the current situation is a source of inspiration for him. While he recognizes that strong men are on the rise in the world right now and that democracy is under threat, he remains viscerally optimistic.

First for the United States:

Democratic institutions prevent Trump from doing what he wants. Every day we see police and army officers making videos to support anti-racist protesters. I think that Trump would have been very happy to lead an Arab country!

Despite the disillusionment of the Arab Spring, the only antidote to the "Dictatorship Syndrome" anywhere in the world is "justice", Alaa Al-Aswany tells us as he leaves us. Because outside of it, there is no salvation for humanity.