Doaa El-Bey and Rasha Saad share reaction to the trial of Hosni Mubarak Newspapers monitored reaction to the governors' reshuffle this week. While some parties welcomed the shake-up as a sign of reform, others believed it was conducted in the same old fashion. Al-Ahram had 'New governors sworn in before Field Marshal Tantawi', Al Wafd bannered 'Disappointment because of governors' reshuffle', Al-Masry Al-Youm wrote that threats of escalation against the selected generals was one of the aftershocks of the reshuffle, and Al-Youm Al-Sabei quoted the governors as saying that the street is their office and the open door is their slogan. Eissa Morshed considered the shuffle as the beginning of reform. Morshed wrote in the official daily Al-Akhbar that although the reshuffle came late, it reflected the deliberations that Prime Minister Essam Sharaf conducted in order to meet the demands of the Egyptian street, the 25 January Revolution and the coalitions and political powers in his selection of the new governors. The reshuffle, Morshed added, which included 15 new and 12 old governors met 75 to 85 per cent of the hopes of the street. However, three governors were previous leaders in the dissolved National Democratic Party, suggesting that the term of those governors will not exceed two months. Morshed also hailed the decision to establish an institution to combat corruption as an attempt to nip it in the bud. Thus, he added, Defence Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council, was very clear in his instructions to the new governors which included working for the people's interest and meeting their needs. Thus the writer expected that the governors would embark on wide-scale moves to purge the national councils in all governorates, go to the streets and listen to the people, try to resolve problems on a daily basis and work according to the vision of the 25 January Revolution. "To retain any governor, the true test is his work and ability to come out with brave solutions according to the spirit of the revolution," Morshed wrote. Wael Qandil saw in the reshuffle more proof that the same old criteria controlled the choice of governors as if Mubarak himself selected them: two- thirds of them are generals, and the other third is divided between supporters of the old regime and a few figures from the opposition. Qandil found the official statement issued after the reshuffle, saying that the governors were chosen according to efficiency, farcical. The governor of Daqahliya, for instance, he explained, is from the remnants of the old regime and one of the admins of the Facebook page called "We are sorry Mr President" and who described the protesters and those who were killed during the revolution as "dogs". He wondered how the governor could assume a leading position in post-revolution Egypt. The reshuffle also included a respectable journalist and a colleague as governor of Sharqiya. While Qandil expressed respect for a colleague, he asked in the independent daily Al-Shorouk how he was chosen when he never worked in the managerial field before in his career. Most writers and columnist wrote about the trial of the deposed president Hosni Mubarak, his two sons, businessman Hussein Salem and former minister of interior Habib El-Adli which started last week. While some writers expressed disbelief that Mubarak was being tried, others looked at details related to the trial, its significance and impact on the future of Egypt. Sherif El-Abd wrote that all eyes were glued to the TV during Mubarak's trial, a trial which returned confidence and satisfaction to the people after they had nursed increasing doubts that Mubarak would ever be tried. "We saw Mubarak behind bars. But we did not witness any feelings of remorse or pricks of conscience. He looked as if he was watching a football match," El-Abd wrote in the official daily Al-Ahram. We saw him, he added, denying any of the charges as if he was not guilty. He looked as if he was sure of his innocence. El-Abd wondered whether Mubarak believed that he was innocent or that his lawyers advised him to find a scapegoat by accusing others of committing these crimes. He summed up his article by questioning whether anybody sympathised with Mubarak when he was bedridden during the first session of the trial. Mohamed Amin tried to answer the question in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. He wrote that some believed that Mubarak's appearance on a stretcher during the trial would have a big impact on Egyptians. But, public opinion did not sympathise with him. Some went as far as to say that his trial should continue even after his death like the British dictator Oliver Cromwell. As a result, Mubarak's lawyers tried other tricks like trying to involve Tantawi and the Armed Forces in the case or pointing out that Tantawi was the one who took the decision to cut mobile and Internet links during the revolution. These were last minute attempts to save the Pharaoh while he was drowning, he concluded. Akram El-Qassas criticised the lawyers who spoke in the name of those who were killed during the revolution who crammed in front of the judge as if they wanted to demonstrate in front of the cameras or be photographed by the media. In addition, El-Qassas added, when they took the floor, they asked for impossible and illogical things. "The martyrs' lawyers are adopting a classic approach that aims to attract attention. But it also wastes time and effort and puzzles people," he wrote in the independent daily Al-Youm Al-Sabei. While El-Qassas did not object to the presence of such kinds of lawyers who were only after fame, he expected that after all these months and the presence of various political groups and coalitions that speak in the name of the revolution that he would see some kind of coordination between lawyers that would produce a respectable and united defence panel. The other problem that emerged during last week's session, according to the writer, was that all the groups that speak in the name of the revolution are only talking. They are not doing anything to claim the rights of the martyrs.
