Doaa El-Bey finds Egypt marking a much older revolution Egypt celebrated the 60th anniversary of the 23 July Revolution this week. Newspapers and writers shed light on the importance of the event and compared it to the 25 January Revolution. Al-Akhbar on Monday wrote "People celebrate 60th anniversary of 23 July Revolution" and Al-Youm Al-Sabei quoted President Mohamed Mursi as saying "Revolution decisive moment in Egyptian modern history". Mohamed Barakat noted that during the last 60 years, Egypt and the world had gone through major social and political changes that created a new de facto situation on the ground and caused a change in the balance of power and the political map in the world. Political views may differ about the achievements of the 23 July Revolution. However, "nobody can deny that it was a decisive moment in the lives of Egyptians. It imposed a new de facto order that affected the region and the world," Barakat wrote in the official daily Al-Akhbar. The revolution, he added, reflected the popular rejection to occupation and an overwhelming will for national independence, freedom and social justice. Thus, the revolution clearly outlined its objectives and managed to achieve most of these objectives, Barakat explained. "But it failed to take positive and brave steps towards democracy. And that caused various problems that would have been avoided had there been a multi-party system, freedom of opinion and acceptance of the others point of view." Abdel-Rahman Youssef who differed with Barakat wrote that the military ruling is the only thing left from the July Revolution. However, Youssef expected that we would soon get rid of it when assuming all positions in the country would be through the ballot box. While he said that the ballot box may bring some military members to top positions, that would be on the basis of efficiency rather than favouritism. The achievements of the July Revolution ended, he added, when Sadat and Mubarak pounced on them, and that is why the 25 January Revolution erupted. It came to give the people the right to choose freely and learn from their mistakes. Youssef was against comparing the two revolutions or saying that the January revolt was an extension of the July Revolution. "The July Revolution is one of the historical achievements of the Egyptians. But that achievement ended. The achievement that we are awaiting its fruits now is the January Revolution. And we would reap them soon," Youssef wrote in the independent daily Al-Youm Al-Sabei. Writers also followed the attempts to form a new government together with the performance of Mursi and how far he has stuck to his 100-day plan. Abdel-Moeti Ahmed wondered why the government has not been formed up till now and whether it would be a coalition government or ministers would be selected according to efficiency. "Newspapers say every now and then that the new government would be declared within hours. We waited for 32 days for the disclosure of the government and the name of the prime minister!" Ahmed wrote in the officials daily Al-Ahram. People are aware, he added, that there are problems facing the formation of the government and that there are differences between Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri and the Freedom and Justice Party. Ahmed raised a few questions like whether there are differences between the president and the military council regarding the issue, whether there are disagreements over the name of the prime minister, and whether the delay is due to the attempts to reach a consensus on a government that appeals to all political powers and parties. Ahmed concluded his regular column by suggesting that Mursi could declare that El-Ganzouri's government could stay until the end of the present transitional period. Ali El-Selmi, who described the people's assessment of the performance of their president as a national duty, said assessment should be based on the presidential programme. According to Mursi's programme called "Al-Nahda", he was supposed to form the government which would be responsible for carrying out his programme under the supervision of a presidential team that has not been formed up till now. "That means the implementation of the president's programme is delayed until the new government and the presidential team are selected," El-Selmi wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. The writer criticised the 100-day plan as lacking the conventional mechanisms to carry out the plan and make tangible achievements in that limited time in order to uproot the problems rather than temporarily treat it. In addition, the present government, which is a caretaker government whose mission could be terminated as soon as the new government is declared, is responsible for carrying out the 100-day plan. Another important element in assessing the president according to El-Selmi is his selection to the issues he deals with. In that respect, the writer felt that it is his duty to tell the president that his initial decisions lacked objective political and legal considerations. His decision to call on the disbanded parliament to reconvene created a confrontation with the constitutional court and his ratification on the law that organised the selection of the constituent committee was regarded as an attempt to interfere in the work of the administrative judiciary court which is supposed to issue a ruling regarding the legality of the formation of that committee soon. Mahmoud Abaza argued that a confrontation with the judiciary would not be in the interests of Mursi or the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). "One may understand the MB's enthusiasm to keep the parliament in which it enjoyed the majority, or control the constituent committee that drafts the constitution. But one wonders how the group thought it could put pressure on the Egyptian judiciary to force it to bow to its will," Abaza wrote in the daily Al-Wafd the mouthpiece of the opposition Al-Wafd Party. But the situation on the ground, he added, proved that the Egyptian judiciary is strong enough to protect its independence and confront any attempt to oppose its rulings. He concluded by suggesting that it was high time to resort to dialogue and consensus because using power proved to be incapable of destroying the state's strong institutions. The constitution, Abaza added, must be by consensus and consensus was achieved during the first days of the revolution when all the powers agreed on establishing a modern civil state that endorses equal rights to all citizens and social justice.
