Who is Diya Amirmuaz?
Beloved at home, the UAR's co-leader remains little-understood to the outside world
By Helmut Schäffer, Hamburg Gazette May 22, 2105
His face is instantly recognizable on Arab national television, his prodigious nose and bright, wide smile accompanying virtually every Jerusalem press conference. Smartly dressed in his suit and tie, he stands before the podium with a military professionalism. The subject of his current briefing, the ongoing tensions over the Platonic Republic's brinkmanship in Vietnam, offers no smiles today. Yet even with the prospect of catastrophic war looming just over the horizon, he projects an aura of authority and stability that seems to calm the hearts of the assembled reporters, and no doubt the millions of citizens watching the televised version of his address.
Of the many adjectives used to describe Diya Amirmuaz, "handsome" is not one that immediately springs to mind. But listening to his address, one quickly understands the origin of his immense popularity: amid the rhetorical slime of party politics and grandstanding doubletalk that accompanies the political profession, he is a man that speaks the plain and honest truth. Even as he vehemently denounces Greece and Japan for using the Vietnamese people as pawns in pursuit of their "so-called national self-interest", he refrains from the temptation to assert his country's moral superiority, reiterating the peacekeepers' mandate and declaring that the only meaningful victory belongs to a free an united Vietnam.
"Global politics is not a zero-sum game," he states, eyes roaming the room, lingering on individual journalists, "A loss for one country is a loss for the international community." As he leans back from the podium, signalling the end of the briefing, the press gallery breaks into applause.
Some might dismiss such a response as scripted propaganda, yet the audience's admiration was heartfelt. Indeed, so infectious was his charisma that I found myself clapping along. Amirmuaz is not a theatric orator, and that may be his secret: devoid of sugar-coated or exaggerated language, he conveys a personal sincerity that makes it easy to establish a rapport with his audience. He is in near-constant contact with the public through state-sanctioned events and impromptu local visits. Though the image is cliché, Egyptians frequently regard him as a father figure and a symbol of the country's steadfastness both at home and abroad.
Amirmuaz has become virtually synonymous with the United Arab Republic on the international stage, yet the man himself remains, outside of his home country, at least, an enigma. He has made few trips within the Middle East and absolutely no official trips outside it, and the global communications breakdown at the turn of the century has not helped his publicity. The basic facts about his life are readily available, but what is not well-understood by the West is his career in the Holy Egyptian Republic prior to the formation of the UAR, in particular his special position within Egyptian politics.
From the content of his speeches and the Republic's domestic policy, which Western observers would describe as secular, one might never imagine that Amirmuaz is a theologian by training and has been Egypt's religious authority since 2099. A graduate of al-Azhar, Amirmuaz was an Islamic legal scholar who in the course of his career became increasingly involved in local politics, eventually earning a position in the national government as a legal policy advisor. At the age of 32 he was invited to join the Faith Council, Egypt's most prestigious board of religious experts, who among other duties selects Egypt's head of state.
Amirmuaz was elected Lord Protector of Egypt in 2099 following the death of his predecessor, Latif ibn Salih. Unlike previous lord protectors that customarily refrained from active politics in favour of dispensing national spiritual guidance, Amirmuaz drew upon his experience in government, working in direct partnership with his prime minister Hamid al-Rashad to advance a long-term state agenda of economic redevelopment, education improvement, and the combating of inequality. While the move was viewed by some as a worrying blend of the legislative and executive branches, Amirmuaz's first five years produced tangible results: a surge in economic growth and general public welfare, and the reorganization of the Armed Forces to pre-cataclysm competence.
Unsurprisingly, Amirmuaz is frequently described as a latter-day Nasser. Inheriting and advancing Egypt's spirit of Arab nationalism, he negotiated the country's union with Syria, establishing the United Arab Republic in 2104. Under the new constitution his Egyptian title has been superseded by his new post as joint head of state, which now enshrines many of his de facto administrative powers; while his religious authority is not officially recognized within the Republic, in Egypt he is still regarded as the steward of Kemetic Islam.
As part of my coverage of the Republic's response to what has been dubbed the Hanoi Crisis, I received an unexpected invitation for a short interview with Amirmuaz in his Jerusalem government office. In private he is little different than in public: self-assured, jovial, attentive, someone with the rare ability to both project strength yet put his guest at ease. I had to resist the urge to use my audience for a biography, but I did ask him whether the UAR's secular politics conflicted with his role as steward of the faith.
"There is no separation between faith and politics in Islam," he laughed. "The Qur'an instructs the faithful how to live in a society of peace and justice." As if anticipating my follow-up query, he continued: "We must distinguish between politics informed by faith, and politics of faith. The politics of human rights that emerged in the latter half of the Twentieth Century can trace their lineage to European Christian ethics; and yet the West calls itself secular. It is precisely the same in Islam."
Moving on to the original purpose of my visit, I asked him why the Vietnam mission had become such a major element of the country's foreign policy. "Justice must be universal," he replied. "When people are given different rightsor more accurately, privilegesbased on rank, or wealth, or other such divisions, their status as human beings is devalued. Tyranny ensues. The international community needs to prove that it is willing to stand up for the rights of all peoples."
When asked how the UAR's leadership role in the mission has bolstered its international prestige, Amirmuaz was quick to deny credit. "Any glory or honour we have gained from the mission is entirely incidental. It is, fundamentally, an international effort, and every contributing party deserves equal recognition."
He expressed regret that many countries still did not support the mission.
I asked him why the UAR was so opposed to the Platonic Republic's decision to support the Council of Hanoi, given UNVIFOR appears to be in a race with Japan to secure the country.
"The first reason is that the Council of Hanoi has no legitimacy. UNVIFOR was established to save the Vietnamese from these warlords, and Athens is proposing these same warlords be put in charge, with the international community's blessing. Why, then, did we go to Vietnam in the first place? It is completely antithetical to the mission mandate.
"The second reason is that the UN would sacrifice political impartiality. There is an important moral distinction between saying: 'We are entering this territory to protect unarmed civilians; we will not shoot first, but we will stop you from harming them', and 'We are entering this territory to forcibly overthrow your regime; we will shoot first so that you cannot harm them'. Pre-emptive invasion on the pretext of humanitarianism is a risky justification: it was the original rationale used by Japan in both China and Vietnam, and we now know it was an abject lie to justify imperial expansion. It is not enough to state intent; it must be demonstrated."
While UNVIFOR receives continued public support in the UAR, it is beginning to draw criticism over its procedural deadlock and the collapse of its original action plan. Amirmuaz dismissed the naysayers as irrelevant to the mission: "What have they contributed?" I concluded by asking Amirmuaz when he thought the Republic's involvement in the mission would end. "When Vietnam is united and the UN has overseen a locally-established government." He was not optimistic on the time frame: "As long as Japan refuses to relinquish its control of the country to the mission, Vietnam will remain divided. Thus far Tokyo has provided every indication it intends to perpetuate the siege for as long as possible."