CAIRO: On the tail of the recent constitutional amendments it has been learnt that reform or real change cannot come from within the regime or from abroad, but rather it must come from people themselves according to Tamer Wagih from the Socialist Studies Center. In reference to the recent amendments Wagih said "the regime have a short sighted vision of separating political opposition and mass social movements. Wagih alluded to the new face of the government, which he dubbed "neo-Liberalism , and said it would not suffice to smooth over social unrest. "The [government] thinks it can contain social unrest through the neo-liberalism under Gamal Mubarak and [Prime Minister] Ahmed Nazif, by increasing economic growth and also through security bodies. They're using both. However, I think this current economic boost is fragile and will not last. Wagih was talking at the Socialist Studies Center in Giza in a lecture entitled "What next after the constitutional amendments? Other speakers were Amr El Shobaky from Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies and Karima El Hefnawy a member from Kefaya as well as the Karama party. Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc Saad Al Katatny was expected to attend but was a no show for the event. Hefnawy said of the amendments "We must continue to object to the referral of citizens to private courts and must petition against this. Shobaky felt that the amendments failed to capitalize on a period of time in Egypt's history where change was necessary and could have paved the way for a more positive future. "The amendments didn't read the moment we are in. some might have expected a limited movement but even this didn't happen, he said, "our problem is stagnation. While to the observer it looks like the regime has won, Shobaky believes that in fact the situation has become more dangerous than before. "We have seen in the past year protests that are removed from conventional politics, such as labor protests or protests against sexual harassment. 222 labor protests were held last year that were unaffiliated to any political authority, he said. Shobaky continued "if this separatist movement continues, uprisings and protests will rise up in different ways with different political symbols. Some might be positive, but most will be negative.
