Wafd buys Al-Dostour CHAIRMAN of the Wafd Party El-Sayed El-Badawi has become part owner of the independent daily Al-Dostour. Publisher Ahmed Essam Fahmi has sold the daily newspaper to "a group of shareholders" including El-Badawi and Edward Reda, a Coptic businessman and member of the Wafd's Higher Council. The rest of the shareholders -- if any -- were not named in the statement Fahmi made to the press. "The newspaper was sold to a group of new shareholders who believe in Al-Dostour 's role in defending freedoms, promoting reform and democracy," said Fahmi's statement. El-Badawi is the new board chairman and Reda executive board chairman. Al-Dostour 's chief editor will remain in his post. Following his election as chairman of the Wafd on 4 June, El-Badawi said: "It is high time that a deep-rooted party like the Wafd begins to be a key player in the country's political life... The Wafd Party will be revived." The purchase of Al-Dostour is being seen as part of this strategy to give the party more political clout. El-Badawi, 60, is already the owner of Al-Hayat satellite channel. The weekly Al-Dostour was launched in 1995. It was soon closed down by the authorities, only to be relaunched in 2005. Negotiating the deal, which cost about LE20 million, began a year ago, Mohamed Sherdi, Wafdist MP and a close associate to El-Badawi, told Al-Ahram Weekly, adding that El-Badawi was a businessman and "did not purchase the newspaper to become the party's mouthpiece". El-Badawi, says Sherdi, has "no intentions of softening Al-Dostour 's tone". Ibrahim Eissa, Al-Dostour 's editor-in-chief, will keep his post. Eissa was sentenced to six months in prison in 2008 for publishing "false information" about President Hosni Mubarak's health, but was later pardoned. Sherdi said that a shake-up of Al-Wafd newspaper, the party's official mouthpiece, is expected, though rumours Sherdi would himself take over as editor were entirely unfounded. El-Badawi vowed that if there were no signs of revival in the party's fortunes within 18 months of his election then he would resign. Popular figures such as the poet Ahmed Fouad Negm, business tycoon Ramy Lakah, and TV broadcaster Nagwa Ibrahim have all recently become members of the party. More significantly, the Wafd Party has been leading the Coalition of the Egyptian Opposition Parties (CEOP) and El-Badawi has called upon President Mubarak to amend the 1956 law on the exercise of political rights to include new guarantees aimed at ensuring that the upcoming parliamentary elections are marked with integrity. Baladi going private BALADI bread may soon be produced by the private sector as well as government bakeries. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif will hold a meeting with the ministers of social solidarity and economic development to discuss developing large scale bakeries in cooperation with the private sector to meet the demand for 3.5 million loaves of baladi bread daily. Fully automated bakeries are planned in seven governorates, including Beni Sweif, Fayoum, Assiut, Sharqiya and Sohag. The government will provide land to the private sector for the building of the bakeries, though the land title will remain in public hands. A number of marketing and distribution companies will be established to help sell the bread. Extra energy soon THE MINISTRY of Electricity announced this week that it was boosting power generation to meet increasing demand. About 550 megawatts (MW) in electricity output will be added to the national grid in two weeks to be boosted to around 1,000 MW by the end of the year. The extra energy will be generated by several new projects including the Kuraymat Solar Thermal Power Station, which is already online, a steam plant in Nubaria nearing completion, a sixth unit of turbines at the Aswan High Dam, and a seventh unit of the West Cairo Power Plant, with a capacity of 350 MW, set to enter the grid during the second week of November. An additional 120 MW are expected to be generated by the wind farm in Zaafarana. Meanwhile, says official spokesman Magdi Radi, the Ministry of Electricity will continue its policy of load shedding, under which the whole country is subject to daily power cuts at different times, in order to spread capacity. The Ministry of Electricity said boosting electricity output is essential to meet growing demand. Additional output is to be supported by natural gas promised by the Ministry of Petroleum. Additionally around 2,500 MW of capacity will be developed by next summer, 700 MW of which will be from a new power station west of Cairo. Meanwhile, the government has secured a $300 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the North Giza Power Plant, on the outskirts of Cairo. The plant is scheduled to start operations by 2014, according to the state news agency MENA. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif described expanding energy infrastructure as one of Egypt's priorities. Additional funding from the Egyptian government, the World Bank and the OPEC Fund for International Development, totaling $292.6 million, $600 million and $30 million respectively, will supplement the EIB loan. The North Giza Power Plant is part of the 2007-2012 five-year energy plan, which aims to add 9,200 MW to current capacity, establish a network of transformer stations, and extend power lines. According to Reuters, Egypt currently has about 25,000 MW of power capacity and intends to spend $100-120 billion to triple capacity by 2027. Nuclear future President Hosni Mubarak announced Dabaa, on the northern coast, as the site for the nuclear plant. Earlier this month, Energy Minister Hassan Younis said plans were underway to begin the process of international bidding to build the plant, expected to cost around $4 billion. It is estimated that the nuclear plant will increase Egypt's power capacity by 4,000 MW by 2025.
