Doaa El-Bey covers protests in Egypt that are in disarray and at times aimless While writers agreed that protests are causing chaos they could not find an alternative. Ahmed El-Masri wrote that it was a good thing that the government is allowing people to demonstrate because it is their right according to the constitution. But it is not good to leave the phenomenon to spread in an uncivilised and chaotic manner that has made the picture of both the protesters and the government unacceptable. It is not possible that the pavement of the People's Assembly be turned into an Egyptian Hyde Park. Hyde Park is massive and situated far from London's city centre, El-Masri added in the independent daily Nahdet Masr. Protests and demonstrations started a long time ago in an organised manner, after which the protests became louder, and then loud speakers and drums were introduced. He ascribed the development of the situation to government indifference to the demands of the protesters. "It is not possible that the government leaves the protesters' problems unsolved in the hope that they will become bored and tired and lose hope. Some went as far as to say 'leave them to protest before the international media. It's free propaganda for the government'", El-Masri wrote. Ashraf El-Ashri believed that organised marches and protests are an indication that society is heading towards reform and democracy. But what has happened in Egypt since the famous protest of the workers of the real estate tax office four years ago and all the protests that followed has been utter chaos. "Streets are witnessing chaotic, unorganised protests that do not have any aim or credibility," El-Ashri wrote in the official daily Al-Ahram. However, the writer acknowledged that some protests are legal and the government is wrong in dealing lightly with the demands of the protesters. Meanwhile, the protesters need to have a clearly defined plan of action with a time frame of a few days rather than weeks or months in order to give decision-makers time to find permanent rather than temporary solutions. El-Ashri summed up his argument by stating that establishing a democratic country and launching the battle for genuine change cannot be achieved through havoc. Sabri Ghoneim regarded the right of protest in one's workplace as an inalienable right. But protesting on the streets and taking one's family and children along is not acceptable because it portrays a negative image about Egypt abroad. "What is happening in front of the People's Assembly and the cabinet venues is chaos by all standards," Ghoneim wrote in the official daily Al-Akhbar. Ghoneim said that protesting has become a phenomenon that deserves serious confrontation from the government. If these protesters are trying to blackmail the government, then the latter should confront them, even if it has to use force. But, he added, it would be better not to bury our heads in the sand and face the problem head-on. Thus, he suggested that every minister should use his authority to resolve the protesters' grievances rather than procrastinate in solving them. "We should show that we are serious in attending to the protesters grievances so that they would not resort to protests and then be blamed," he concluded. Writers were still looking for reasons for Egypt's failure to conduct negotiations with the other Nile Basin countries in order to reach a water-sharing accord that all the concerned countries agree on. Mahmoud Musallam did not regard what happened with the Nile Basin countries as the responsibility of one Egyptian body but indicates a general failure in a number of Egyptian bodies which has led to a state of decline. Not only did five African countries sign the new accord without Egypt and Sudan but top officials in these countries issued statements that showed open defiance. The Ethiopian prime minister said Egypt could not prevent them from building dams while Kenya's water minister boldly declared that Egypt had no choice but to join the new accord. Egypt has been absent in Africa, Musallam explained, and that was noticeable when some African countries refused to back Egypt by voting for Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni during the UNESCO election. Egypt also did not confront Israeli manoeuvres in the region throughout the past years. Thus, we cannot heap the blame solely on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Irrigation for the crisis. In fact, the ministries of foreign affairs, irrigation, culture, agriculture, international cooperation and information in addition to many others are involved. Our government has repeatedly failed in its foreign battles, Musallam added, namely in Hosni's failure to win the UNESCO elections and our failure to host the 2010 World Cup. These failures could be justified by the difference in language, culture and values, or the clash of civilisations. But one cannot find any justification for the failure in Africa. Therefore, we should admit that the whole Egyptian body has collapsed and is in need of all-out treatment, Musallam wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom. Ziad El-Sahhar warned against dealing with this technical and political issue in a superficial way. On the contrary, in a national cause like the Nile, all political movements and parties should cooperate with experts and certainly politicians. He disagreed with Musallam that Egypt had been absent from the African scene and that Egypt had boycotted Africa ever since the attempted assassination on President Hosni Mubarak in June 1995, and that Mubarak was keen to participate in all African summits only during the 1980s. However, we can say that political attention was not as it was in the 1980s when the Foreign Ministry was under Boutros Boutros-Ghali who succeeded with his great political, economic and technical experience in strengthening Egypt's role and ties with Africa. But it is also fair, El-Sahhar added, to mention that circumstances have changed. Egypt has been preoccupied with other political files that needed attention including Palestine and Iraq. Nevertheless, Egypt has not been completely absent from Africa. Our youth, who are sacrificing their lives in peacekeeping operations in Africa, is the best proof. Meetings are held every week between Egyptian and African officials on presidential or ministerial levels. Therefore, El-Sahhar added in the official daily Al-Gomhuriya, we should not deal with the Nile's water from a personal or superficial perspective, as there are pros and cons. Objectivity requires that we deal with it in a pure, patriotic spirit and then leave the matter to experts and the political leadership which will be able to deal with the issue as it did in Taba in which all national forces cooperated with the political leadership in having it returned to Egypt.
