Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed tackle subsidies, or the lack thereof Social upheaval during the festive season hit the headlines, the question of subsidies being the most significant of the preoccupations this week. The government came under intense fire for hinting that it would lift subsidies on a number of basic commodities. Pundits warned that this might cause a public uproar, especially among the poor. Writing in the popular independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, Galal Amin exposed the government's plans to pull the wool over the low-income people's eyes by giving them cash support instead of subsidised basic commodities. "The government of [Ahmed] Nazif is well aware that correcting the income/wealth distribution system is impossible because the agenda of this government contradicts this. And the ministers responsible for the economy in this government belong to a social class that does not want to hear anything about this correction talk. The only thing they are enthusiastic about is correcting prices [by raising them]." The writer urged the government to consider carefully the plight of the poor and to cater to their concerns. "However, Nazif's government is well aware that cancelling the commodities subsidies in light of the current system of wealth and income distribution could lead to a rebellion. Therefore, this government resorted to the trick of bribing the poor by offering them cash subsidies," Amin noted. In much the same vein, other papers picked up on this vital issue of national concern. The poor are hungry and labour is under stressful social and economic conditions and is in dire need of subsidised basic commodities, especially foodstuffs. People do not know how to make ends meet. They are desperate, the pundits concurred. The weekly Nasserist opposition Al-Arabi ran a front-page headline: "Postponing the cancellation of government subsidies after security reports warned against a possible revolution of the hungry". The paper quoted economists as saying: "The government provides subsidies for the rich while the revolution of the hungry is drawing near." In a related but distinct question, Al-Arabi questioned the lack of government concern towards strengthening scientific research in the country, urging the government to encourage scientific research in order to speed up development. It warned of dire consequences if the government does not do something urgently to rectify the situation. The paper also quoted prominent physician Mohamed Ghoneim, who was mocking the dilapidated state of scientific research in Egypt, as saying: "Egypt will enter the Stone Age in scientific research within the next few years." The deplorable state of the educational system in Egypt came under fire as well. The paper continued to paint a grim picture of the conditions in Egypt. It interviewed Minister of Education Yousri El-Gamal, and quoted him as saying: "The educational system in Egypt is a failure." The paper urged the government to improve the sorry state of affairs. Back to the question of subsidies. One of the foremost political commentators in the country warned of the dangers inherent in ignoring the imperative question of the vital subsidisation of basic commodities. Writing in the official daily Al-Ahram Salama Ahmed Salama diagnosed the problem of cutting subsidies. "The problem is that the issue of subsidies was spoken about in different languages, which prevented the idea from being grasped by the people. The [ruling] party speaks about the issue in a certain language, the prime minister speaks about it in another language, and the minister of social solidarity speaks about it in a different language. And then came the statements of President Mubarak to settle this controversy and to stress that subsidies will remain and will not be cancelled now." The daily opposition Al-Wafd highlighted the controversial issue. "International newspapers highlight the contradiction between Mubarak's statements and those of [Prime Minister] Ahmed Nazif regarding the subsidies", ran the headline of the paper. The paper also quoted Mahmoud Abaza, chairman of the Wafd Party, warning against the cancellation of subsidies to the poor. "[Poor] people will never tolerate any tampering with subsidies and they will not accept to be marginalised any more." He added: "Marginalising the poor categories of society will pose a danger to national unity." However, there were those who strongly defended the government's position. TV presenter Moufid Fawzi painted a rosy picture in the daily business newspaper Al-Alam Al-Yom. "At times I don't believe that there is poverty and unemployment in Egypt. I have a feeling that people in Egypt have a great deal of wit and do manage to find a job and earn money using unusual ways." He praised the creativity and ingenuity of the Egyptian people. "It's true that there is a wide gap between classes but nobody dies of hunger as happens in other countries." On a similar note, Magdi El-Gallad wrote in Al-Masry Al-Yom about the massive strike organised by thousands of real estate tax collectors in front of the downtown headquarters of the Ministers Council for over a week now. People are standing up for their rights, he stressed. "Indeed, Egypt is changing, otherwise President Mubarak would not have responded to those underprivileged [employees] by introducing an amendment to the law [of real estate tax]... Egypt is changing, otherwise the government would not have succumbed to the [demands] of the Mehala Spinning Company workers... Egypt is changing because apathetic and fearful people decided to say 'no' in the middle of the street." Most commentators agreed there has been a shift in attitudes of the people of Egypt. They want to see changes and results. They are prepared to fight to realise better standards of living. They are no longer willing to suffer in silence. With the festive season upon us, the papers raised the question of soaring prices of sacrificial animals. Muslims who can afford it ritually slaughter sheep, camels or cattle on the first day of Eid Al-Adha. Al-Alam Al-Yom highlighted the skyrocketing prices of rams during the Greater Bairam (or the Feast of Sacrifice). Cultural differences played a part in the creation of the problem, some papers noted. Western countries such as Australia object to the ritual slaughter of the animals and therefore hold back the export of sheep. "The importing of Sudanese and Ethiopian meat did not solve the problem. And there has been a recession in importing Australian sheep because Australians say they are ill- treated before they are slaughtered," Al-Alam Al-Yom wrote .
