The way National Democratic Party officials discussed the increasing number of popular demonstrations at the last meeting of the ruling party's Policies Secretariat indicates their woeful ignorance of the real reasons for the protests. At the meeting, I heard Hossam Badrawi demand the abolition of Egypt's longstanding state of emergency--yet he went on to wonder why people were demonstrating since the ruling party had achieved so much over the years. It's obvious that the man has no idea what much of the public is suffering from if he actually believes that there were achievements.This indicates that his party is completely isolated from the reality of the Egyptian street. Then there was Ahmed Ezz, the ruling party's organizational secretary, who said that the media only concentrates on the negative side of things while ignoring the positive. He asserted that rural areas in particular were enjoying the fruits of the ruling party's alleged achievements. So everybody seems to believe that there have been achievements. Why, then, are protesters sleeping on the pavement outside parliament for days on end? Did it ever cross anyone's mind that these people can no longer make ends meet? The people, apparently, are unable to see these said achievements. Or perhaps we should define the word "achievement." For example, should the new airport terminal--built with the latest technology--be considered an achievement, even for those workers now sleeping on the street?
