RN at European Commission in Brussels- Herrera and Mallat on universal dimension of the ME revolution, nonviolence, constitutional crisis cell

At the invitation of the European Commission to discuss the implications of the ongoing revolutions in the region, Janaina Herrera, from RN, presented a comprehensive assessment prepared together with Chibli Mallat on the nature of the Revolution and the expectations for the EU. In a first part, she explained the national, democratic and post-Islamist nature of the Revolution as its main characteristic, and its continuation of a deep nonviolent struggle started by ME civil societies over decades, most remarkably in the Lebanese Cedar Revolution of 2005-2006 and the Green Revolution in Iran in 2009. She also showed the key role played by RN members in the protection and development of the global, nonviolent character of the revolt over the past decade. In a second part, she dwelt on the risks of the Counter-Revolution, including the Revolution’s descent into military confrontations that need to be prevented, the old guard and army vindictive roles, and sectarian extremism: against these risks, she proposed the development of a constitutional cell crisis in continuation of RN work in Egypt and Bahrain. In the third part, she emphasised the need for the EU to openly espouse the Revolution `without any Iranian, Saudi or Israeli exception’, and to engage fully in fast track interaction with civil society leaders and emerging transitional governments across the Middle East.

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Tagged as: Chibli Mallat, Constitutionnel, EU, Janaina Herrera, Middle East, non-violence