President Mubarak's official visits abroad, the Al-Salam verdict, skyrocketing food prices and superstition preoccupy the pundits, write Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed The unprecedented visit by President Hosni Mubarak to South Africa stole the headlines. "The summit of the giants" was the headline of the official daily Rose El-Youssef. The front pages of all official papers highlighted the first ever visit by a sitting Egyptian president to South Africa. "Futuristic strategic cooperation surmounts geography and the linkage of northern and southern Africa," the paper blasted. According to the papers, the visit focussed not only on bilateral relations but also on African affairs in general. The political crises in Zimbabwe and Sudan took precedence. Trade and economic relations between the two countries also topped the agenda. South African businessmen were encouraged to invest in Egypt and the investment opportunities in the country were highlighted by the large group of Egyptian businessmen who accompanied President Mubarak to South Africa. The visit served to cement ties between the African continent's two largest and most dynamic economies. The two countries are also among the most influential politically and their collaboration in resolving the problems of the African continent is of critical importance. On the domestic front, the papers were preoccupied with the controversial ruling of the Safaga felonies court acquitting Mamdouh Ismail of all charges levelled against him following the sinking of the Al-Salam 98 ferry that caused the death of more than 1,000 passengers in February 2006. Ismail, a business tycoon who owns the ship, and who is a member of the ruling National Democratic Party, came under intense criticism from the public at large and the families of the victims of the sunken ferry for shirking responsibility for the disaster. There were heart- wrenching scenes of anger and agony by the families of the victims in which they blamed the authorities and the judiciary for letting Ismail off the hook. The papers focussed on the verdict. "The relatives of the victims of the ferry fainted and burst into tears after hearing the court ruling that acquitted the owners of the ferry", ran the headline of a feature in the daily official Al-Akhbar. The paper quoted a mother of a victim of Egypt's worst marine disaster as saying: "I don't understand the law, but I expected a fair ruling bringing all the culprits to book." The court ruling was shocking for the families of the victims and public opinion as well. Opposition and independent papers led the chorus of criticism of what was widely considered an unjust ruling. The daily Al-Wafd ran the headline: "The attorney-general contests the acquittal of the accused in the ferry disaster". The paper quoted the attorney-general as saying: "the court ruling ignored the evidence in documents and was marred by wrong deductions." Writing in Al-Wafd, Abbas El-Tarabili argued that "we lost 1,033 Egyptian citizens in the depths of the Red Sea, and all what the court could do was indict the captain of another ferry [who did not respond to an SOS from the capsizing ferry] to six months in prison!" The thorny issue of presidential succession rose to the fore once again. Opposition parties and movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood voiced concern about the continued hegemony of the military over political affairs. The weekly independent Sawt Al-Umma quoted deputy Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Habib as saying: "We will vehemently oppose any military vice-president appointed in case he muzzles [public] freedoms." He added, "bequeathing the presidency, in case it happens, would tarnish Egypt's image inside and abroad." The prickly twin issues of democratisation and political reform engaged the attention of the pundits. Writing in the daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, Abdel-Moneim Said argued that former secretary-general of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali was optimistic when he said Egypt and the Arab world still need two decades to become full fledged democracies. "Forty years until democracy is achieved", was the headline of Said's article. He attributed this delay to "the fact that [our] relationship with the West and the outside world is mostly dominated by animosity and conflict, which will prevent the occurrence of [democratic] progress, since every Arab dictator can do whatever he wants, rightly or wrongly, as long as he has a mighty major power [behind him]." The vexing question of religion preoccupied the pundits. Commentators voiced concern over the growing powers of preachers. Writing in Al-Masry Al-Yom, Suleiman Gouda harshly criticised religious preachers. "When you consider what some preachers say on satellite channels, you will find they are keen that their viewers are without reason or ability to grasp the meaning of what they say. Thus, viewers cannot differentiate between what is reasonable and what is not logical." Gouda added, "you would find one of these preachers weeping while addressing his viewers trying to influence them to shed tears. In the midst of this scene there is no opportunity for the millions of viewers to review [the superstitions] this preacher pours in their minds and which keeps them mesmerised." He argued that "in this manner the essence and the most beautiful side of religion die out." The rising costs of food and fuel concerned many commentators. In an interview with the weekly business- oriented Al-Ahram Al-Iqtisadi, former prime minister Ali Lutfi was quoted as saying: "The best solution to skyrocketing [commodity] prices is rationalising subsidies and determining who deserves them most." Lutfi added, "poor distribution of incomes is the reason why [ordinary] citizens have not tasted the fruits of [economic] development." Lutfi said that "skyrocketing prices, unemployment and poor distribution of incomes are the three main problems facing the Egyptian economy." He pointed out that, "one-third of Egyptians do not deserve subsidies." On a lighter note, the phenomenon of the stranglehold of superstitious beliefs on society was examined and analysed by certain commentators. Sawt Al-Umma reported that a study conducted by the National Centre for Social and Criminological Studies showed that, "63 per cent of Egyptians believe in superstitions. Belief in magic is shared by both educated and non-educated people. Eleven per cent of those who believe in superstitions are actors, politicians, cultured people and athletes." The paper also reported that, "75 per cent of males prefer women to remain housewives as long as there is no urgent need for her to work." The number of Egyptian working women, according to the paper, hovers around 3.7 million, out of the total number of working people which comes to 17.3 million. The paper also reported that a study conducted by the Central Agency for Mobilisation and Statistics showed that drug dealing in Egypt had reached LE18 billion. Narcotics and superstition are two sides of the same coin.
