Although the situation in Qena is quiet, the problem over its governor is far from being solved, Mona El-Nahhas reports For the third successive week since the appointment of Qena Governor Emad Shehata Mekhail, Qena residents are still clinging to their demand that he be dismissed. Although the residents have toned down their protests after the cabinet decided on 25 April to suspend Mekhail's activities for three months following huge protests against his appointment, demonstrators announced they will not accept anything less than his permanent dismissal. Qena residents, the majority of them being Muslim, insist that the replacement of Coptic Mekhail should be a Muslim and a civilian. Mekhail was deputy chief of the Giza security administration. Other than opposing him for being a Copt, Mekhail was accused by residents of Qena of being involved in killing demonstrators during events of the 25 January Revolution. Last Friday, immediately after noon prayers, thousands of protesters staged a sit-in in front of the governorate's main office to press for Mekhail's firing. They stressed they were waiting for a decree dismissing Mekhail and appointing a new governor, describing the suspending of Mekhail as not the solution to the problem. During the strike, they also called for the questioning of the former governor Magdi Ayoub about the corruption cases filed against him. Ayoub, also a Copt, was severely criticised for his poor performance, which, they say, led to the governorate deteriorating. The Copts themselves were not supportive of Ayoub, claiming that conscious of being a Copt, he worried that he would be accused of favouring them, so ended up discriminating against them. That's why the Copts joined hands with protesters who stressed that they are not ready to repeat the experiment of a Copt governor once again. The protesters included families and representatives of various political factions. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as various Salafist groups took part in the protests. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf paid a visit to Qena on Tuesday to hold a dialogue with its residents to discuss their demands. Sharaf, who received a warm welcome from Qena residents, stressed during the visit that Egypt was in urgent need of stability to implement development and democracy in Upper Egypt governorates, led by Qena. Sharaf stressed that there was a large number of health, educational and development projects soon to be carried out in Qena. He also pledged that all the demands of Qena residents will be met soon. "We are now in the process of arrangements and we need the support of everyone," Sharaf said during a rally held after he participated in noon prayers at Abdel-Rahim El-Qenawi Mosque and visited the Orthodox Copts Bishopry. There was no direct mention about the thorny topic of the Copt governor. According to political analyst Amr Hashem Rabie, the crisis in Qena revealed that the Sharaf cabinet has a limited role in running Egypt's affairs. "By means of the constitutional declaration, the Higher Council of the Armed Forces is gripping everything firmly," Rabie said. Rabie does not expect a decree dismissing Mekhail. "I think they are afraid that such a decree would open the door to endless protests of this kind. Besides, according to the government, it would weaken its prestige of the state in the eyes of the public," Rabie said, adding that they may seek other solutions like extending the period of suspending the governor's activities. Rabie believed that it was the fault of the state from the very beginning when they chose governors according to the same old-fashioned criteria. In this connection, Rabie urged a reconsidering of the appointment of governors, which is no longer in harmony with the spirit of the revolution. However, Rabie said the people of Qena were not above blame. "The way in which they escalated their protests caused them to lose any public sympathy over their demands," he said. Following the announcement of the governors' reshuffle on 14 April, protesters camped on the railway tracks, preventing trains from coming from Luxor and Aswan as well as Cairo. They cut off Qena-Aswan and Qena-Sohag highways. Roads were blocked and cars banned from crossing. In addition, they announced the start of a partial work stoppage in select government offices and even threatened to cut off electricity and water supplies. It was only when the cabinet announced a freeze on Mekhail's work and the assignment of the governorate's secretary-general Maged Abdel-Karim to act on his behalf, that the protesters ended the blockade on the railway tracks and highways and suspended their sit-in.
