The day of reckoning is nigh for Egypt's democratisation process, postulate Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed The main topic to hit the headlines this week was the "popularity of the government" a prickly subject that preoccupied the commentaries of the pundits this week. Rose El-Youssef, the sensationalist weekly magazine, came up with what it described as "the largest and most comprehensive press survey designed to access the popularity of the government." The purpose of the recently conducted poll is to ascertain the popularity of the government, to flesh out a "mental picture of its credibility". The public has its own views on the subject and is entitled to voice its opinion, said the magazine, which claimed that since July 2005 it had attempted in vain to turn itself into an intellectual "think tank." Meanwhile, the speculation about the president's health continued unabated this week. Unease over the succession remains, however, Egyptians are obviously highly ambivalent about the controversy and this is reflected in the print media. Mindful of such sentiments, President Hosni Mubarak has come forth with bold statements that refute any insinuation about his supposed illness. In an interview with the weekly independent Al-Osbou, Mubarak was quoted as saying: "The press has the right to tackle any rumour, even if this rumour is about the president of the republic. But there is a big difference between a true piece of information and making up an incorrect piece of information and building [opinion] on it." The pundits, however, continue to debate the issue. Mohamed El-Shabba, writing in the daily liberal-leaning Nahdet Masr, pressed his point that the president fully understands the dynamics at work. "President Mubarak told Mustafa Bakri that he did not differentiate between national newspapers on the one hand and opposition and independent newspapers on the other. Perhaps the president does not differentiate between newspapers, but all the apparatuses of the state do. These apparatuses choose [editors-in-chief] who attend the president's meetings and those who travel aboard his plane. And in most cases non-governmental newspapers are ruled out." The prickly question of freedom of expression, or to be more precise press freedom, was highlighted in the print media this week. The weekly opposition Al-Arabi ran the following headlines after the sentencing of four editors-in-chief -- Wael El-Ibrashi of Sawt Al-Umma, Adel Hammouda of Al-Fagr, Ibrahim Issa of Al-Dostour and Abdel-Halim Qandil, who was previously the co- editor-in-chief of the weekly Al-Karama -- to one year in prison for slandering the president and his son Gamal. "The massacre of the freedom of the press; A shock in the street and an international scandal for the regime after the return of imprisonment in publishing cases." Magdy El-Gallad, writing in the independent daily and hugely popular Al-Masry Al-Yom about the sentencing of the chief editors to one year in prison, did not mince his words. "Any newspaper that does not kowtow to the National Democratic Party is accused of being affiliated to the banned [Muslim Brotherhood], and any newspaper that does not work for the security apparatus is accused of being financed by the group." El-Gallad went on, tongue-in-cheek, deriding the court ruling as ridiculous and inappropriate. "The judge who issued the court ruling was too lenient... since the punishment was not a deterrent to the evil, betraying, malicious press. I call upon the regime to execute the misguided journalists in independent newspapers so that the National Democratic Party can continue building modern Egypt." El-Ibrashi, editor-in-chief of the weekly independent Sawt Al-Umma, and one of the four editors sentenced, wrote: "the most dangerous thing about last Thursday's legal debacle is that it put new rules for the press that could threaten to annihilate it. The first of these rules states that journalists must profess their loyalty to the National Democratic Party and sing the praises of its achievements." The question of democratisation came to the fore. Egypt is supposed to be implementing radical political reform processes. And yet, the state security apparatus is continuing to cause severe problems to ordinary citizens voicing their political opinions. Talaat El-Sadat, who was released a few weeks ago after spending a year in prison for slandering the military establishment, was as outspoken as ever when writing in the daily independent Al-Dostour about who rules in Egypt. "The state security investigation apparatus rules supreme in Egypt," El-Sadat, nephew of the former president Anwar El-Sadat, said. In much the same vein, Saadeddin Ibrahim writing in Al-Dostour, slammed the poor human rights record of Egypt. After writing an opinion piece in The Washington Post entitled "Egypt's unchecked repression", Ibrahim expounded his thesis further. "Editors-in- chief of pro-government newspapers do not care what I write about in the Egyptian or Arab press. However, when I write in foreign or American papers they get very angry." A moot point indeed. Ibrahim made a valid point about why the Egyptian authorities seem overly concerned about the image of the country abroad. The very same authorities could not care less what their own people think about them. What matters, as far as they're concerned, is that the Western powers meet with their approval. Writing in the pro-government daily Al-Ahram, Makram Mohamed Ahmed criticised journalists and writers who opposed the government's transforming of the giant Arab Contractors Company into a stock exchange firm. "It seems that we, journalists and writers, have become used to not making sure of precise news facts and their correctness. We are governed by preconceptions... and try to make an issue of any news item... we are overwhelmed by a strange feeling that any decision made by the government is inherently corrupt or made for personal interests." Mursi Atallah, the chairman of the board of Al-Ahram, the country's premier print media organisation, was equally candid. Writing in the daily Al-Ahram about the chaos that reigns supreme in the streets of Cairo, Atallah expressed disdain about the turn of events. The holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan is supposed to be a month of blessings; instead it has metamorphosed into something of a nightmare. "The streets of the capital city suffer because of chaos and a disregard for the law. All officials who are responsible for protecting the streets should be ashamed of themselves... what happens in the streets of Greater Cairo produces sorrow and confusion at the same time. While local authorities exert efforts in improving the condition of sidewalks... the same authorities give licences to [vendors to set up] kiosks on these pavements, and so people must walk in the middle of the street... and so traffic stops."
