Doaa El-Bey tries to keep up with Egyptian authorities who no sooner end one strike than another starts Protests by public transportation workers were resolved Tuesday but not before causing major disruptions in the streets for a week. However, other professions, including doctors and railway workers, continue to demonstrate. Al Wafd headlined 'Festival of protests in front of the cabinet'. Al-Masry Al-Youm had 'Two children die because of doctors' protests'. Al-Ahram blared 'Protests in Ain Shams and Helwan universities', and Al-Akhbar front-paged 'University professors call for sacking the old heads, and students threaten to protest'. Sherif Riad expressed concern that the repeated one- million marches would have adverse effects on political life as the protests have become a means by which to exchange accusations and sow division. Riad wanted readers to ask themselves what were the benefits of last Friday's million-man march, protests in Roxy Square and an attempt to march to the Ministry of Defence. Riad also wondered what were the benefits of the protests launched by workers of the public transportation institution. The government insisted that it would not negotiate with them until they return to work; the private microbus drivers raised their fare and commuters literally paid the price. He also questioned the use of protests by school teachers and university professors. "Participants in all the protests and sit-ins are looking only for their interests. They do not consider Egypt's interest or the values of work and production. Now, eight months after the revolution, we only find disorder, hooliganism, a fall in production and the economy and a setback in the democratic process. If the status remains as is, I'm afraid one Friday will be dubbed 'Death of the Revolution'," Riad wrote in the official daily Al-Akhbar. Tariq El-Ghazali Harb described the political scene in Egypt as engulfed in confusion, vagueness, conflict and conspiracies. "The top three presidential hopefuls release statements and hold conferences without knowing the limits of the authority of the future president," Harb wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm . Harb called on the ruling military council to deliver the last message to the people during which it would declare the end of its continuous meetings that started on 9 February. He wished the message would include 10 points including naming Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi the temporary president for a two-year non-extendible term, and appointing Mohamed El-Baradei as the prime minister during the same period in a transitional government that would work to save Egypt in the full sense of the word. Harb also expected the statement to include disclosing all the details of the budget to the prime minister so that he can work on redistributing the money in a way that achieves social justice for all citizens; asking him to appoint a 100-person committee responsible for drafting a new constitution for the new state that we are looking forward to and lifting the state of emergency for good after the constitution is passed. Mustafa Abdel-Aziz asked Tantawi to do something different: speak to the people. Abdel-Aziz asked in the daily Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party, why he did not come out to his people with a speech especially at that critical time of sectarian conflicts. The writer questioned whether Tantawi saw any benefit from speaking. "Does he not want to involve himself in the controversy raging on the Egyptian street?" The country has gone through various critical moments since 11 February, when Hosni Mubarak stepped down, "during which we were in dire need of a speech from Tantawi. We were in need of an address, he elaborated, after the battle of Abbasiya, and that of the Israeli Embassy. "The people who welcomed Tantawi on the street in his civilian clothes would have been satisfied had they heard from him a speech of principles and of clarity and openness that we expect from him," Abdel-Aziz wrote. Samir El-Shahat wrote that any superficial change to most of the Egyptian institutions would not be good. Radical change is required from the ruling military council to all these institutions which are full of corruption. El-Shahat pointed to a dangerous report issued by the Union of Egyptian Investors which said that some 850 factories had closed down since the revolution and more than 200 are expected to close soon. "Corruption is the biggest problem in Egypt now. If the ruling council and the government rush to uproot it, they will succeed and guarantee Egypt success," El-Shahat wrote in the official daily Al-Ahram. Thus, given that this is a moment of truth, the columnist called on the ruling council to open all corruption-related files in the courts and reveal the truth to the people. He concluded by expressing confidence in the council's success just as they succeeded in the October 1973 War. Yasser Abdel-Aziz remembered 6 October in Al-Masry Al-Youm as the memory of one of the greatest victories that the Egyptians achieved with their souls and blood. Thus, the Egyptian army and people should cherish that day. In light of the achievement, Abdel-Aziz said he understood that some politicians and protesters want the ruling military council and the Armed Forces to be two different entities as the former is a political body that takes difficult decisions in some cases and has to deal with the rules of the political game and consequently expects and accepts criticism. The latter should stay away from politics. Abdel-Aziz pointed out to a failed attempt to push the army into politics when a group of youth marched towards Abbasiya in an effort to reach the Ministry of Defence on 23 July. However, they failed to reach the ministry or drag the army into the political conflict. Thus he called on protesters and political groups and parties to realise that 6 October is one of the greatest days for all Egyptians and that the army is the army of all Egyptians and it should not be targeted or criticised. Abdel-Aziz also called on the ruling military council to listen to the demands of the revolution and to realise that its present role is only temporary.
