Walaa's Weekly Wrap-Up ~ June 29, 2013

I don’t know about the rest of you, but my week began with a big bang.

Again this summer I was asked to coordinate the internship programme for the New City Initiative , and without hesitation I accepted. I love working with people especially young people and this gave me two month to do just that.

On my first day there (a couple of weeks ago) I was told excitedly that Nick Clegg has agreed to have a dinner with members of NCI. I never meet Clegg before and was over the moon, to finally get the chance and meet the man everybody agreed with.

Clegg in person is very, very nice. He is easy on the eye and even easier to like. Which I have to admit, I found the later to be a bit of a surprise. Going by the way some of my fellow Tories talk about him, of course I was surprised to find him this likeable.

Those of you who haven’t meet him yet but meet Cameron; the two men are very similar except Nick is even less rushed talking to people and has a more laid back demeanour than Cameron and remember DC chillaxes a lot. So he makes you very relaxed talking to him. Clegg also took his time with every question and genuinely listened to every word said; his answers were unscripted and on occasion he changed his mind when the other argument was stronger or better than his.

It shocked me too, finding him so likable. However later, after he left the dinner, those who knew him well explained that’s one of the things they love about him.

I think that trait; his likeability is still something the Libs should capitalise on going forward. I also think he is the best leader for them, just as I believe Cameron is the best for the Conservatives. And despite my desire for a pure Conservative government post 2015, with Nick Clegg at the realm of the LibDems, next time around I will be less reluctant to welcome a Conservative – Liberal Democrats coalition.

Egypt is unsurprisingly in turmoil again. Most Middle Eastern observers expected it. However, if Egyptians want democracy – this is it.

The cost of democracy is that we don’t always elect the ‘right’ person, or we do and power changes them or they don’t turn out as we expect them to be – but they should only be changed democratically.

Democracy isn’t always easy or fast and as we have seen can be very unpredictable.

But if, as we hear, the military wants to interject, Egypt will only go backwards to what it was before Morsi, before democracy and that is not what millions in Tahrir Square marched for.

Change is tough and the cost of democracy can be even tougher.

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My thoughts and prayers, and the world’s thoughts and loving prayers are with Madiba, Nelson Mandela. I wish him and his family well.

This week’s post was, Winners and losers ~ Thursday June 27, 2013