Egypt's scrapping of its highly controversial gas contract with Israel and the Syrian position following the first round of presidential vote in France were the focus of Doaa El-Bey and Gamal Nkrumah The controversy over the formation of the constituent committee drawing up the constitution and whether it should be drafted before the presidential elections is ongoing. Al-Masry Al-Youm's banner on Monday had 'Parliament reforms the constituent committee and constitutional experts suggest either keeping the constitutional declaration or returning to the 1971 constitution'. Al-Ahram bannered 'No revival of 1971 constitution or postponement of the elections'. Other issues came to the fore this week -- annulling the gas deal with Israel, the controversial visit of the Grand Mufti Sheikh Ali Gomaa to Jerusalem and the new thanaweya amma -- or 12th grade high school diploma -- law which reduces the study of the certificate to one rather than two years. Al-Shorouk on Tuesday quoted a government source as saying that stopping the export of gas to Israel did not come by coincidence. Al-Akhbar on Monday headlined 'Thanaweya amma in one year starting from the next academic year' and Al-Wafd stated that the parliament accused Gomaa of deluding the people and asked him for an apology. The decision to cancel the gas contract with Israel was described by Osama Dawoud as brave. He wrote that it reminded him of a personal conversation with the head of the exporting company who told him that Egypt always abides by the agreements it signs. The official added that on a personal level he wished to cancel the contract but could not take the step unless Israel failed to comply with articles in the contract. The writer noted the inappropriate Israeli reaction to the decision which he described as that of thugs. The Israeli statements included threats and a link between that contract and the Camp David accords. The Israeli chief of staff said that Egypt is becoming an enemy state and that his army is ready to perform any mission required. And the head of Kadima Party Shaul Mofaz was more provocative when he described the cancellation of the agreement as a violation of the 1979 peace agreement signed between the two states. "Israeli reaction to Egypt's decision to end its gas contract with Israel is provocative. We should set aside all our differences and be on alert to face any nonsense on its part," Dawoud wrote in the independent daily Al-Youm Al-Sabei. Amer Tammam, who said he wished Gomaa had not visited Jerusalem, wrote that the acknowledgment of a slip-up followed by an apology is a virtue that most of the Arab people lack. As a result, they exert great effort to find excuses for their mistakes rather than apologising. "Instead of apologising for his visit to Jerusalem, the mufti came up with the excuse that the visit aimed at asserting that Jerusalem is Islamic and Arab," Tammam wrote in the official daily Al-Akhbar. The writer was in no doubt on the fact that Israel would use the visit in portraying itself as the democratic and civilised country that open the doors of Jerusalem to followers of all religions and that it is its eternal capital. Tammam wondered why the mufti chose to enter from Al-Magharba Gate, the same gate that the occupation forces use to break into Al-Aqsa Mosque and whether he felt secure under the protection of the occupation forces. He concluded his column by wishing that the mufti had not gone in the first place. Abdel-Moeti Ahmed disagreed with Tammam. He saw no reason for the attack against Gomaa that amounted to calls to sack and try him. Gomaa repeatedly said that he entered Jerusalem with a Jordanian visa and that he did not meet a single Israeli. "Why have those who attacked him forgotten that Israel has an embassy in Cairo and in Amman and trade offices in the Gulf states? The presence of Arabs and Muslims benefit the Palestinians better than the boycott," Ahmed wrote in the official daily Al-Ahram. He regarded the fact that the Palestinians welcomed the visit as further proof for his argument. Thus Ahmed considered the visit as a possible opportunity "to review our stand and stop linking religious and political matters." Wagdi Zeineddin welcomed the new thanaweya amma law and saw a big advantage in it: limiting the high expenses of private lessons to only one year. However, he expressed concern in the application of the law. If the subjects that were studied over two years are to be compressed in one year, that would simply compress the burden of private lessons in one year instead of two, without reducing expenses. Thus Zeineddin called on parliament to discuss the distribution of subjects over the three years of high school before passing the bill. Besides, the law did not say when students would be required to choose to join the science or literary sections, and when the science section would be subdivided into science and math sections. "Will the new thanaweya amma reduce the burden on the Egyptian family and ease the fear of final exams -- that Goliath?" Zeineddin asked at the end of his regular column in Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party. Hassan Nafaa tried to draw possible scenarios for the presidential elections in light of the present political situation. He questioned why the ruling military council has shown a sudden interest in the constitution. The head of the council Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi issued a statement that indicated he wanted drafting the constitution to precede the elections. Some concluded that given that the time until next month's presidential elections is not enough to draft the constitution, the elections would be postponed. The writer described the situation as obscure although Tantawi and other top officials confirmed that the elections would be held on time. Tantawi's meeting with constitutional experts early this week made the situation even more obscure. The constituent committee is the only party that is responsible for drafting the constitution, Nafaa explained. The elections schedule was drawn up by the committee responsible for the elections. The military council would not be able to rush the constituent committee into drafting the constitution before the elections. Thus, the only date that the council can move without causing constitutional problems is the date to transfer authority. But will the people accept, Nafaa wondered. He predicted that the council will claim that it cannot hand over power until the three main components of authority -- parliament, president and constitution -- are complete. In that case, the military council would stay in power until the constitution is drafted and a referendum is held for people to have a say in it. But will the people accept, Nafaa asked at the end of his column in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm and left the answer to his readers.
