A small announcement by the Egyptian Cabinet a few days ago that Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif would get married next month seems to have become the talk of many on the streets and the coffee shops of this country as well as provided fodder for the local media. While some of Egypt's opinion makers considered the announcement one bid by the Government to be transparent about the personal life of its members, other people saw in it a ‘needless pomposity' that should have been given to other more important matters that directly affect the lives of ordinary citizens. “Things shouldn't get mixed up for the Prime Minister,” said Moustafa Bakri, an independent legislator and a journalist. “He is free to get married, but his marriage plans are none of our business,” he added in an interview. Bakri has championed the move against the announcement about the marriage of the Prime Minister both in Parliament and in the media. He has presented a request for discussion in Parliament about the announcement and said the Egyptian Cabinet should be more busy with citizens' problems than the marriage plans of the premier. Some people have strongly seconded Bakri, and said the Cabinet should instead talk about how it would deal with the problems of the people. “Bakri is correct,” wrote one reader to the independent newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm in comment on Bakri's attacks against the Prime Minister. “I had expected the Cabinet to make an announcement about new projects or solutions to the people's problems,” he added. One reason why the announcement might have created such a big reaction is that Egyptians are not used to knowing a lot about the personal lives of those who rule them, said one observer. This encouraged TV anchor Khairy Ramadan to call for more similar statements about the personal lives of governmental officials. “This is an encouraging thing,” Ramadan said on the daily talk show “Feel At Home” broadcast on official TV on Monday. “The people of this country have the right to know about the personal lives of their government ministers,” he added. Picture showing Ahmed Nazif (L) and the bride.
