Doaa El-Bey looks at the ripple effect caused by the entrance of El-Baradei into Egypt's political scene and the Iraqi elections which could be the country's last before the withdrawal of US troops Writers looked at the significance of Mohamed El-Baradei's return to Egypt and his efforts to make genuine changes in the political life in Egypt. Hossam Barabri wrote that the comments and long interviews given by El-Baradei ever since his return made many people attack him by either rejecting the idea of his running as a presidential candidate in principle or by belittling his abilities on the pretext that running a state is far different from running the nuclear agency which he presided over for 12 years. However, Barbari caught a number of remarks from El-Baradei which indicated his deep understanding of the positives and negatives of political life in Egypt. First, he is aware of all the details of his country, and that is why he can diagnose its problems correctly and accurately. Second, he believes in everything he says, especially in the fact that the absence of democracy, in the real sense of the word, for the last 50 years is the cause of all our problems starting from the shortage of bread to gas cylinders, to contaminated water. Third, his call to amend the constitutional articles that state the conditions for running as a president, the presidential term and organising presidential elections are basic matters that would guarantee democracy. Fourth, he managed to throw a stone in the stagnant water of political life in Egypt by his calls for drastic change. Thus the writer suggested that we should listen when El-Baradei speaks. "If El-Baradei is relying on the people to carry out what he believes is in the interest of Egypt, they should not let him down. But if we do, it would mean we are used to living in a fake democracy and we should not blame anybody but ourselves," Barbari wrote in the independent daily Nahdet Masr. Suleiman Gouda regarded El-Baradei's campaign and the opposition to it as a chance to address long neglected issues. He called on El-Baradei and the coalition of four opposition parties -- Wafd, Tagammu, the Nasserist and Gabha -- to review their priorities. While focussing on changing Article 76 of the constitution, Gouda suggested, in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, they should also call for amending the item that states that labourers and peasants should constitute 50 per cent of the members of parliament because the introduction of the item in the constitution in the early 1960s hampered the legislative authority and prevented it from carrying out its duties in the fullest sense. He added that this percentage is exaggerated, appearing more so given that coming up with an accurate definition of a peasant or a labourer is a challenge even among top state officials. The State Council's decision to reject the appointment of women as judges was a cause for concern among writers this week. Heba Omar wrote in the official weekly Akhbar Al-Yom that the council's unanimous decision "took us 60 years back when Aisha Rateb, who graduated from the Faculty of Law with distinction, requested to be appointed to the State Council. The head of the council then, Abdel-Raziq El-Sanhouri, accepted her appointment but prime minister Hussein Serri did not because her appointment did not conform to the prevailing traditions then although he acknowledged that there had been no legal or constitutional reason for his decision." Omar added that even when the present head of the State Council, Mohamed El-Husseini, decided to disregard the rejection and go ahead with the procedures to appoint women judges, on the basis that there is no difference between men and women, the council's Judges' Club held an emergency meeting to contest El-Husseini's decision. Amina El-Naqqash noted that El-Husseini's decision did not solve the problem, but led to holding two emergency meetings, one for State Council consultants and the second for members of the Judges' Club. Both meetings aim to lessen confidence in El-Husseini and file a suit against him. El-Naqqash ascribed the State Council's rejection of the appointment of women as judges to several factors, mainly interpreting Sharia in a hardline manner, regarding women as inferior to men for biological reasons and some going as far as to claim that the appointment of women as judges is against Islamic Sharia. She also questioned how the State Council, which agreed to appoint women to judicial positions last August, annul the decision in February. "Why, whenever the Egyptian society takes a positive steps towards rooting liberty and equality, some judges drag us backward on the pretext that these are external matters imposed on us by the West? Aren't justice and equality of rights the core of Islamic Sharia?" El-Naqqash asked in the daily Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party. Like Omar, El-Naqqash pointed to El-Sanhouri's confirmation 60 years ago, saying there were no legal, constitutional or human reasons to stop women from assuming judicial posts. However, she added, today when women have become ambassadors and ministers, the members of the State Council decided that the present social conditions are not suitable for appointing women as judges. El-Naqqash concluded by expressing hope that the emergency meetings would review the decision. The government was harshly criticised for its performance during last week's torrential rains. A few hours of rain caused major traffic jams and brought life to a near standstill. Al-Masry Al-Yom 's front page had, 'A day of rain destroys 30 years of infrastructure.' Magawri Diab looked at the causes for the poor performance. He wrote in the official daily Al-Ahram that this was not the first time Egypt had faced a natural disaster and that unexpected scenarios had occurred in dealing with it. Several studies, as Diab wrote, showed that torrential rain takes place in certain places in the governorates, and although the state built several walls to protect these areas, it seems they were not effective enough, probably for technical and engineering reasons. But the real problem is the difference in opinion among scientific institutions over which one is responsible for studying torrential rains, how to protect the country and make full use of the water. It is clearly the responsibility of the Ministry of Irrigation, as Diab wrote. The ministry has the right to ask experts from other institutions to help in order to tame torrential rains and guarantee that the country is ready whenever it happens. Studies show that we need to take a few steps to deal with torrential rains, namely drawing up a complete strategy to face environmental and natural disasters and be ready for them before they happen; establishing an executive body to protect from the dangers of natural disasters; and review the laws that organise the management of these disasters. Completing an Atlas of the valleys in Egypt and the areas prone to flooding, how to protect these areas and benefit from the ravaging waters, reviewing the construction plans in these areas and reconstructing dangerous areas if needed are other procedures that Diab recommended. He also called for reviewing the road network in the north and south of Sinai and linking the Nile and the Red Sea with projects that would protect these roads.
