Recent Egypt Headlines

Egypt has made some international headlines in the last couple of weeks, but we are keeping a closer eye on what local news has to say as we move into hotter summer months and the approaching Ramadan, a holy month of fasting by Muslims, which is estimated to begin on July 9 and continue until August 9 this year.

As we look at these headlines, let us just stress a couple of things: First, we're not experts on the events, culture, politics, and history of Egypt or this region--NOR do we pretend to be.  We are simply passing along news and information that we are hearing and reading from various sources as we live and serve as guests in this region.  Secondly, we are not taking any sides in the stories that we reference; we work really hard at trying to find both sides of any story and though our initial opinions of various stories can range from humorous or even horrifying, we are not attempting to promote any opinion, perspective, or course of action.  We are here to serve regardless of the headlines and where cultural, societal, political and/or religious decisions lead.  We report these things here because there are people who want to know about what we're doing and what's happening--the news they hear regarding Egypt may be brief at best, and so, from time to time, we share more links to help those who want to know more.

With that said, here's what we're reading and seeing this week...

Egypt and Ethiopia
As previously referenced on the blog, Egypt and Ethiopia have a difference of opinion when it comes to a prospective Ethiopian dam project on the Blue Nile and the potential effects upon Egypt.  A couple of weeks ago, June 3, President Morsi convened a meeting with top government officials to discuss options relating to the potential water "crisis"; some of the participants were not aware that the meeting was not only being recorded, but also televised.  Though we have heard many speculate that televising of this meeting was accidental, the Daily News Egypt reports that the decision to televise due to the importance to the public was made prior to the meeting--but the participants were unfortunately not informed.  As a result, the discussions seemed to be inappropriate and embarrassing; the Daily News summarized some of the discussion as follows, "During the meeting Ayman Nour as well as Al-Wasat Party Chairman Abu Elela Mady suggested military action against Ethiopia; others talked about using actors and sports figures to negotiate while Al-Azhar representative Sheikh Hassan Al-Shafei suggested embarrassing Ethiopia through international pressure."

Last week, President Morsi issued a public and deliberate statement regarding the Ethiopian dam project.  According to this Al Jazeera English report, President Morsi said, "If it loses one drop, our blood is the alternative," and, "We are not calling for war, but we will not allow, at all, threats against our water security ...all options are open."

As a result of the private and public statements, you would expect Ethiopia to have a response, and they did.  In this Al Jazeera English article, the foreign ministry spoekesman Dina Mufti said that Ethiopia was "not intimidated by Egypt's psychological warfare and won't halt the dam's construction, even for seconds."  The article also includes this summary video report on the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia...



Meanwhile, 
Egypt & Syria

In April, President Morsi visited Russia talked with President Putin.  There were talks about potential Russian investment in Egypt and Putin's requests for Russian tourists to be safe on visits to Egypt destinations; during the talks, Syria was also discussed and President Morsi stood with President Putin in agreeing against foreign intervention and the search for diplomatic solutions.  

But on Saturday, June 14, President Morsi seemed to take a different stance on Syria, urging other nations to maintain a no-fly-zone over Syria; he further announced the closing the Egyptian embassy in Damascus and the Syrian embassy in Egypt.  The Daily News Egypt further reported that President Morsi called for the "liberation of the Syrian population."

This appears to some to be a contradiction and led to headlines like this, "Morsi cuts Syria ties to woo West, boost image"on the Global Post website.  The Daily News Egypt reported on differing views on Morsi's speech, including this quote...

Reactions to Morsi’s speech varied among political figures and groups

Said Nader Bakkar, vice-chairman for media affairs of the Salafi Al-Nour Party: “We didn’t take part in the conference on Syria due to our reservation on the increased number of events held by the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) prior to 30 June.”

In his statement, Bakkar asked Morsi to resolve the contradiction between what he said in Moscow about adopting a stance similar to Russia’s, supportive of Al-Assad’s government, and what he said on Saturday about severing relations with the regime.

And what does Syria think about President Mori's speech?  Well, they're not happy according to this Al Jazeera English article that quoted a Syrian government official as saying, ""Syria is confident that this decision does not represent the will of the Egyptian people."


The various opinions on Syria are not the only opinions making headlines when it comes to Egypt.
Economy and Approval Ratings
A very balanced report from Al Jazeera English titled, Analysis: Egypt's Faltering Economy, begins this way*:

A Pew survey of Egyptian public opinion released in May found out that a solid 66 percent of Egyptians preferred democracy to any other form of government, and 51 percent were willing to live under a democratic government even if they risk instability.

Yet, when asked if they preferred "strong democracy over a strong economy", their loyalties shifted. Only 45 percent agreed, while 52 percent said that living in a good economy was more important to them to living in a good democracy.

The same survey highlighted Egyptians' growing economic pains and worries. Only 29 percent of those surveyed said they expected their economic situation to improve next year, a result down from 50 percent in 2002. Some 42 percent thought their economic situation would worsen next year, up from 20 percent last year. And, a strong 76 percent majority believed the national economic situation was "bad". 

The above referenced article quotes some favorable analysis of President Morsi's financial leadership in the past year...

"Reem Abd ElHaliem, a professor of economics at Cairo University, told Al Jazeera that Morsi should be given credit for what he achieved economically in the past year. 

She believes that Morsi has worked hard to look for alternative sources of funding, such as issuing Sukuks, or Islamic bonds, which were recently approved by parliament. She also commended Morsi for seeking to cut fuel subsidies without hurting the lower classes. A new card distribution system is under development and may be introduced this autumn. Morsi also resisted pressure to cut spending on social programmes that benefit the poor."

And, it quotes some less than favorable analysis...

"Mohammed Mossallem, an economic researcher at Cairo based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, thinks Morsi has not done much to help the Egyptian economy. He says Morsi has changed three finance ministers in one year, does not seem to have a clear economic policy, and has focused too much on borrowing from abroad and on attracting foreign investments - without preparing the country or the economy for absorbing such investments into pro-growth activities. 

Mossallem thinks government should take more ownership of the economy at this moment, be more transparent with people about the dire economic situation, direct more funding to productive sectors instead of subsidies, and to focus on developing small and medium size enterprises - which employ an estimated 75 percent of Egypt's labour force - offering them more funding, instead of following Mubarak-era policies to attract large foreign businesses." 

Beyond the economic opinions, there are other factors contributing to different opinion polls* on the Egyptian government.  The Daily News Egypt ran this headline today "Morsi's popularity declining," citing a 4% decline in support over the last month according to "Egyptian Centre for Public Opinion Research."

*(on a side note, personally, I think that opinion polls can be equally helpful and dangerous for democratic governments; while they can reveal what the majority think, all of the information may be in the hands of the minority -- and, I'm always reminded of the infamous statistical adage, "Statistics don't lie, but liars use statistics."  So, I'm cautious when reading or reporting on "opinion polls"!)


and finally,
June 30 Approaches
We've been hearing and reading small reports of planned demonstrations for Sunday, June 30; this date

a few of the top search results from earlier today

will be the one year anniversary of President Morsi taking the oath as the President of Egypt.  At the beginning of the month, we first heard someone speaking of the date as a day of possible protests and demonstrations; this led to a curious internet search to see if we could find any official plans.  At that time, we could only find one article referencing the "April 6" political activist group calling for demonstrations on that day, implying a dissatisfaction with the last year; the same article indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood would also be holding demonstrations that weekend in support of President Morsi's leadership in his first year.  It is difficult to find the reference to that article now, because a Google search of the words "June 30 Egypt demonstrations" leads to a host of headlines and reports (see pic).

The scarce references and rumors have become more main stream since the beginning of the month.  One of the above referenced Al Jazeera English articles above reported the following as a part of President Morsi's statements on Syria:

However, Morsi also used the occasion to warn his opponents at home against the use of violence in mass protests planned for June 30, the anniversary of his assumption to power.

Morsi repeated the allegation that Egyptians loyal to the now-ousted regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak were behind the planned protests and that they were working against the January 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak.

"Some who are delusionary want to pounce on the January revolution and think that they can undermine the stability that is growing daily or undermine the resolve that people have clearly forged with their will,'' he said.

We have heard from expats and Egyptians alike, and there seems to be a little more anxiety over the various plans for the last day of the month than in previous times of demonstration.  Since the 30th is a Sunday, and since a lot of demonstrations have typically began after Friday prayers, some wonder if demonstrations have the potential to be several days.

And that's your headlines...

Pray for Egypt!