Prominent businessman and board chairman of Orascom Telecom Naguib Sawiris has called on the liberal political forces to support the government against the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) because the government alone will not be able to defeat them. Why should not the state form a coalition government of liberal parties, such as Al-Wafd Party or the Democratic Front Party, as pursuing the MB in streets would not be a solution?
"I agree with the government that the absolute freedom will result in forces like the MB or Hamas, which will take use 50 years back. I am not against democracy, but it should be achieved gradually with more steps in the economic reform," Sawiris added.
During a meeting in Rotary Cairo Royal Club, he announced his support to the State's policy towards the crisis in the Gaza Strip, adding: "Egypt is not required to receive the Palestinians and establish camps for them, as is the case in Lebanon because this scheme will move Tehran to Egypt's borders."
"At the beginning, I thought the resistance would be good, but Hamas leaders fled to their holes and left the Palestinian people face the war alone. While regional powers like Syria adopted a heroic speech, it did not fire a single bullet against the Jews in the occupied Golan."
Commenting on the economic crisis, Sawiris said the Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's performance has been good in the beginning, but now he does not have the same enthusiasm, hinting that he - Sawiris – knows the reasons, but would not mention any of them.
The Egyptian government is not ready to deal with the economic crisis, as its decision to pump LE15 billion in markets has not been put into effect also it was taken three months ago. Such crises need a rapid movement, but the government - unfortunately - is moving too slowly, he added.
He criticized the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Governor Farouk al-Okda for his insistence on not reducing the interest rate on lending although all world countries did that. The Nasserite thought still controls the government policies, as evidenced by May 5th decisions in which the government backtracked facilities it previously provided to investors, Sawiris said.
"The global crisis requires collective action, in a time the government's performance is controlled by some cliques."
