A pharmacists' strike and the repercussions of protests against traffic legislation on the part of truck drivers were both overshadowed by an act of terror in the historical, tourist-dominated district of Al-Hussein: Doaa El-Bey takes a look at the week's events as they were reflected in the Arab as well as the Egyptian press Most front pages of newspapers focussed on the Al-Hussein explosion on Sunday which left one French tourist dead and more than 20 injured. Al-Wafd newspaper described the explosion as a terrorist act and Al-Akhbar quoted Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar as describing the incident as a criminal act rejected by Islam. The official daily Al-Ahram regarded the explosion as a criminal act aimed to give the impression that Egypt is unstable. The newspaper's editorial categorically ruled out that such incidents could achieve their pathetic aims because they instigate wide popular rejection inside Egypt and worldwide denunciation. "Thus, it is useful to point out that the vast majority of Egyptians has always rejected this kind of criminal violence whatever its fake excuses are," the editorial read. Gamal Abdel-Rahim wrote that although he was angry about and frightened from the terrorist act, he expressed absolute confidence that the explosion was a unilateral and unorganised act committed by one person or a small group not linked in any way to any well-known organised party like Jihad. He ruled out the beginning of a wave of terrorism that Egypt could witness in the immediate future as some writers speculated. Abdel-Rahim described the perpetrator of the blast as a lunatic who believes in extremists ideas that have nothing to do with Islam. He assumed that the perpetrator could have acquired such ideas from the Internet. "The Al-Hussein explosion is not only against the Egyptian government but the people as well," Abdel-Rahim wrote in the official daily Al-Gomhuriya. The writer concluded by expressing his wish that the Ministry of Interior arrest and try the perpetrator soon and that the Ministry of Tourism would try to market tourism in order to save the economy which is likely to suffer. Although the pharmacists' strike ended peacefully last week after the Pharmacists' Syndicate and the Tax Authority reached agreement, many writers are still analysing the significance of the strike as well as its impact on society. Abbas El-Tarabili noted that Egypt recently witnessed a series of strikes in various fields starting with workers of Mahala factories, teachers and, more recently, pharmacists and trailer drivers simultaneously. He questioned whether this was a surge in the power of the people and a push towards democracy, or a sign of the government's weakness. Although El-Tarabili considered strikes a healthy phenomenon, he added it was also a sign of government weakness because it issues laws without studying them thoroughly. As a result, people reject them and launch strikes to ask to change these laws and the government finds itself bound to bow to the will of the people. "The government usually issues laws in the name of the people. But as they do not follow the will of the people, people launch strikes and the government raises the white flag and gives in to the will of the people," El-Tarabili wrote in the daily Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the Wafd Party. Refaat Rashad questioned why some officials take either unjustified or rash decisions that affect a wide sector of the Egyptian people. As a result people respond strongly by way of strikes, protest marches or demonstrations against the regime. The writer brought recent strikes launched by pharmacists and trailer drivers as examples of poor planning. It was the intervention of President Hosni Mubarak in both strikes that resolved the problem. "Some government members make mistakes. Unfortunately, until these mistakes are corrected, many people suffer on different levels and consequently take a stand against the government," Rashad wrote in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom. The natural sequence, according to the writer, is that the official should study a decision from all angles and make sure that it will be accepted by the wide majority of the sector affected by the decision. Then he can issue it. Mohamed Abdel-Hafez wrote that the pharmacists' crisis revealed the absence of coordination between the various sectors in the government and that ministers are working on separate islands and taking decisions without consulting with the prime minister. That crisis lasted for more than two weeks and ended after the two-day strike that pharmacists launched last week. After two days of suffering by patients, the government came to its senses and started negotiations with the involved parties and resolved the crisis. "That solution could have come 48 hours earlier to prevent pharmacists from striking, patients from suffering and to save the face of the Ministry of Finance," Abdel-Hafez wrote in the official daily Al-Akhbar. The absence of coordination led to the strike by trailer drivers which was only resolved after the intervention of President Mubarak. The writer predicted that unless there is coordination between the ministers in the future, there will be more crises. Safaa Louis wondered why a supreme council for taxes has not yet been set up. Given that it will be an unbiased body, it is supposed to play an important role in resolving any differences between taxpayers and the Tax Authority, thus eliminating reasons for taxpayers to go on strike. The Tax Authority has managed to build bridges of confidence with taxpayers in the last few years. Losing that confidence, said Louis, would cost the state money at a time when it needs money to deliver services and face the burdens of development. "The relationship between the Tax Authority and taxpayers should be governed by mutual trust rather than confrontation," Louis wrote in the independent daily Nahdat Masr.
