http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2000/504/ec1.htm Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 October 2000 Issue No. 504 Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 Politics of business By Aziza Sami Just what is the significance of so many businessmen standing in the forthcoming parliamentary elections? In answering this question, it is illuminating to take the individual case of Rami Lakah, by now a household name thanks to the media. The furore revolved around Lakah Group's notorious loan history, the danger that it posed to creditor banks, and the group's subsequent ability to negotiate with the government to reschedule repayments on loans estimated at LE1.2 billion. You would have thought Mr Lakah had his hands full already. But no, now he is venturing into politics. Not that it seems a particularly well-structured entry into public life. Rather, it appears to be an extension of the high-level bartering and trade-off in which most businessmen operating on a large scale now indulge. Whose interests, exactly, are these business candidates seeking to represent? What is their take on basic questions related to the reform process and its administration, on privatisation, on exports and on the impact of liberalisation on economic and social development? Several major businessmen are members of the ruling NDP, though it is far from clear how that is likely to effect any lobbying for improved production structures, more effective privatisation processes or a more liberal market. Similarly, the positions likely to be adopted by those who chose to run as independents remain far from clear. More businessmen, then, may enter the next parliament. As yet, their potential impact is unclear, beyond perhaps the one certainty -- that they will be persistent in promoting their own, limited, partisan interests. It is doubtful that they will be able to fill the vacuum created by the absence of any effective association bringing businesses together and facilitating dialogue between industry representatives. That vacuum, after all, is now being held to blame by many for the government's prevarication over its partnership agreement with the EU, which was five years in the negotiating. Many now condemn what they characterise as a "top-down approach" during negotiations. The government, they assert, did not have a complete grasp of the concerns of individual industries, whose representatives were only "informed", periodically, of the broad lines of negotiation. As a consequence a major trading agreement has left local industries in a state of disarray, while the government is in the embarrassing position of having to delay any final signing of a text it has been negotiating for years because first it must allay business's concerns. Businessmen with vision and executive ability might look to the example of one of the world's strongest business associations, the German Federation of Industries, which represents the full range of industry from small and medium enterprises to global players, and engages in constant research and the provision of data to the government on relevant issues , while being reticent on any direct involvement by business in party politics. And, if it is Egypt's industry representatives who in a developing economy have been charged with over 70 per cent of investments, then they should formulate their position on economic issues, and, beyond partisan politics, see that this will feed into the decision making process. Egyptian businessmen -- particularly the most prominent and the most successful -- have tended to run their businesses as "one man shows" making little, if any, recourse to modern management techniques and displaying a long-standing allergy to the delegation of responsibilities. That these overstretched individuals are seeking to add to their burdens by making forays into politics despite, in several cases, growing doubts over their competence to manage their original businesses, does not promise much. Involvement in a political process that does not uphold real democratic interaction will at best serve only partisan business interests. So, despite the possible election of such a large bloc of businessmen, national industry still faces an urgent challenge to organise itself so as to make its voice heard, and have a say in decision making. And this can only be accomplished within the framework of strong associations. Businessmen in parliament may realise their individual political ambitions. Their involvement in politics, though, is unlikely to make them better entrepreneurs. © Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Mine Aysen Doyran PhD Student Department of Political Science SUNY at Albany Nelson A. 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