Cop-out on Cairo coup

The Clark Government was quick to denounce the military coup in December 2006 that overthrew Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s overthrow of Fiji’s elected Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase. Sanctions were placed on Fiji, aid was reduced and we have persistently pressed for the commodore to restore democracy. In contrast, the Key Government seems indifferent to the coup that has toppled Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi. Prime Minister John Key said his Government is ‘‘obviously very concerned’’ about an elected leader being overthrown by the military. Egypt is an important and ‘‘complex country’’ experiencing difficulties associated with democratic transition. He urged all parties ‘‘to take things cautiously and carefully’’. He also said New Zealand’s diplomatic staff will remain in Egypt but advised Kiwis to avoid the area. Anyone who has kept abreast of the political upheaval in Cairo should have needed no advice. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website yesterday contained no declaration of this country’s policy position. Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully on the Beehive website had issued no statements concerning Egypt since March, when he was headed there to attend the League of Arab States executive council meeting and discuss New Zealand’s bid for a seat on the Security Council with his counterparts in the region. Egypt is not among our top 20 export markets but it does buy around $230 million of our dairy products and – as Z energy chief executive Mike Bennetts has cautioned – petrol pump prices could increase further if the political turmoil does not ease. A shift of every cent in the exchange rate was a cent at the pump ‘‘and there’s a lot of risk created around what’s happening in Egypt’’, he said. But our Government should be considering issues beyond this country’s material interests. It should express its disapproval of President Morsi being deposed and the suspension of Egypt’s constitution just as robustly as the Clark Government did when Fiji’s prime minister was overthrown. That means refusing to diplomatically recognise the illegitimate government in Cairo and suspending economic relationships so long as it remains in place. Yes, the new leaders have promised early elections. So did Commodore Bainimarama.