By Shaden Shehab The majority of the 13 leading figures polled by Al-Ahram Weekly rated Egypt's successful role as a regional mediator and the progress made on the mega-development projects in the New Valley and Sinai as the most important achievements of 1998. Others argued that the decline in terrorism and the improvement in the economy were more significant. Moufid Shehab, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, praised the rapid progress made on the various mega-projects in the New Valley and Sinai over the past year. "The projects will enhance the life of the average Egyptian as they will open the door to better living conditions and increased job opportunities for the young." Fawzia Abdel-Sattar, former head of parliament's legislative committee, agreed, saying, "The projects, especially Toshka, will contribute to the flourishing of Egyptian civilisation." She said that, upon their completion, these projects will raise living standards by increasing the amount of agricultural land and, therefore, facilitating a lower population density around the Nile Valley and would provide employment opportunities. This optimism was echoed by other prominent figures including Hamdi El-Sayed, Chairman of the Doctors' Syndicate and Ibrahim Shukri, leader of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party, who both felt that these projects boded well for Egypt's future. But Mustafa Kamel El-Sayed, Professor of political science at Cairo University, was concerned about what he believed was a distinct lack of significant developments over the past year. "The absence of any major event as we are about to enter the 21st century is a very serious sign and it indicates the lack of dynamism in Egyptian politics." However, El-Sayed commended Egypt's diplomacy in the Syria-Turkey crisis. "The last-minute intervention of President Mubarak succeeded in defusing the crisis. This achievement is to the credit of the government," he said. El-Sayed took a dim view of domestic politics in 1998. He said, "as in previous years political parties were weak while the [ruling] National Democratic Party failed to transform itself from a crowd of people who like to benefit from the government into a truly functioning party." Yassin Serageddin, leader of the Wafd Party's parliamentary group, and Farkhonda Hassan, head of the Women's Committee of the ruling National Democratic Party, also argued that Egypt's interventions were in large part responsible for solving disputes between Yemen and Eriteria on one hand and Turkey and Syria on the other. Fahmi Howeidy, a prominent Al-Ahram columnist and writer on Islamic affairs, believed that "the decline in terrorism and the increasing support from extremist groups for the cease-fire call" were the most important developments of the year. This was echoed by journalist Salah Eissa and television script writer Osama Anwar Okasha who both hoped for a recovery in the tourist trade in the wake of last year's Luxor massacre. However, Rifaat El-Said, secretary-general of the leftist Tagammu Party, was less sanguine, arguing that although the Islamist militants' cease-fire call was significant, a threat still remained. Former prime minister Mustafa Khalil stressed the importance of positive economic developments over the past year and particularly the fact that reforms have not led to major social problems. Leila Abdel-Meguid, Professor at the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University, concurred, arguing also that privatisation and more competitive markets have attracted increasing numbers of investors to the country. The US-British air strikes on Iraq were mentioned, most notably by Yassin Serageddin who argued that the domestic cross-party consensus that emerged was unprecedented. "This was the first time that all opposition parties, regardless of ideology, united and demanded action," he said. Other events mentioned as important were the Kafr Al-Dawwar train crash, the imprisonment of journalists and the improvement in relations between Iran and Egypt.
