Ibrahim Eissa's Al-Dostour will soon be little more than a memory, writes Shaden Shehab A week since Ibrahim Eissa's dismissal as editor-in-chief of the independent daily Al-Dostour and the once fiery newspaper has changed beyond recognition. Eissa was sacked on 5 October, since when Al-Dostour 's trademark mix of harsh criticism of the government and regime and its exposure of corruption has been diluted to the point of extinction. Eissa insisted he had been dismissed because the authorities want "absolute silence on the part of the press as parliamentary and presidential elections approach" whereas the paper's owners say he was sacked for "administrative" reasons. The majority of Al-Dostour 's 60 journalists remained on strike as Al-Ahram Weekly went to press, and have staged a sit-in at the paper's offices. Al-Dostour is now being produced from temporary headquarters with a new team of reporters. Eissa's replacement as chief editor has not yet been named. The journalists, joined by colleagues from other papers, staged a demonstration in front of the Press Syndicate on Tuesday. "We oppose the firing of Eissa. We oppose the new owners' decision to change the editorial policy of the newspaper," they said in a statement following the protest. Wafd Party Chairman El-Sayed El-Badawi and Coptic businessman and member of the Wafd's Higher Council Edward Reda became the paper's largest shareholders in August. El-Badawi was appointed chairman of the board and Reda the executive chair. At the time they said there would be no change in the paper's editorial policy and Eissa would remain as chief editor. Following a meeting with Press Syndicate head Makram Mohamed Ahmed and disgruntled Al-Dostour reporters El-Badawi said the paper would continue to operate and that obligations to employees would be met. He ruled out the sacking of reporters. El-Badawi, who also owns Al-Hayat satellite channel, resigned as Al-Dostour 's board chairman on the same day Eissa was dismissed although his name remains on the newspaper's masthead. On Monday El-Badawi announced that he had sold his shares to Reda. "He wants to wash off the killing of the newspaper. He wants someone else to take the blame," said Khaled El-Sergani, one of the editors who resigned after Eissa's sacking. El-Badawi's popularity, which reached a peak after he became chairman of the Wafd Party on 4 June following elections that were widely praised as democratic, has suffered since the sacking of Eissa. Protesters have gathered in front of the Wafd's headquarters and groups have appeared on Facebook and Twitter calling for a boycott of El-Badawi's pharmaceutical company SIGMA. "We are not going to give up," El-Sergani said. While refusing to elaborate on future plans he did not rule out the possibility of setting up a new newspaper with Eissa. El-Badawi has insisted in interviews that Eissa's removal was not a political move dictated by the regime, claiming that Eissa pressured reporters to strike after taxes were deducted from his LE70,000 monthly salary. Eissa dismissed the allegations, saying that only "a retarded person" would believe he was angry at the deduction of a few thousand pounds. El-Badawi also says that Eissa remains welcome to contribute to Al-Dostour, though the former editor-in-chief says he will not "be a guest in my own home". The weekly Al-Dostour was launched in 1995 with Eissa as its editor. It was soon closed by the authorities only to be re-launched in 2005 with Eissa still at the helm. Edward, who owns the BBC chain of schools, has adopted a far less conciliatory approach than El-Badawi. He told the daily Al-Shorouk that "Eissa is not welcome [at Al-Dostour] under any circumstances." According to El-Sergani, Edward justified Eissa's sacking on the grounds that his editorial policy had alienated advertisers who objected to the paper's use of "obscene" language. Eissa says his dismissal came after he had refused a request from Al-Dostour 's owners not to publish an article by opposition leader Mohamed El-Baradei on the 1973 War. In the article El-Baradei said Egypt's victory in 1973 was a result of "discipline and good planning" which has been absent ever since. The article finally appeared in Al-Dostour on 6 October. It was published, say many observers, simply to discredit the reasons Eissa had given for his sacking. Political science professor and opposition activist Hassan Nafaa wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom that "Eissa had a good relationship with Al-Dostour 's former owner, Essam Ismail Fahmi". "The result was a paper that had a unique flair, irrespective of whether one agreed or disagreed with its editorial line. Yet it was not possible to maintain such a relationship with the new owners for several reasons. "The sale of Al-Dostour to a partisan owner came amid extremely sensitive political circumstances, with a regime that wants to bequeath power to the president's son, and an opposition that wants to change the rules of the political game in the lead-up to parliamentary elections next month and presidential elections next year. "In addition, the Wafd Party has decided to participate in the People's Assembly elections in November in the absence of any guarantees the vote will be free and fair. This has prompted many to suspect the party has struck a secret deal with the regime." Analysts see Eissa's dismissal as part of a wider campaign to silence dissident voices ahead of next month's parliamentary elections. Popular Orbit broadcaster Amr Adib's show Al-Qahera Al-Yom has been taken off the air, the official reason being that the station owed money to Media Production City. Ironically, there are plans for Adib to continue his programme on Al-Hayat satellite channel, owned by El-Badawi. Popular sports broadcaster Alaa Sadek was banned from state TV after he criticised the Interior Ministry for failing to prevent clashes following a football match between Ahli and the Tunisian team Al-Tarragui. TV cameras have also been banned from entering courts after criticisms were levelled at a reduced sentence being given to billionaire business tycoon Hisham Talaat Mustafa after he appealed the death sentence that was handed to him after he was found guilty of conspiring to murder Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim. On Tuesday news agencies were banned from sending mobile messages to subscribers without first obtaining the permission of the ministries of information and telecommunication and the Higher Press Council. The official explanation was that the move was intended "to protect people from false information".
