Cairo- More and more sit-ins are being held around Egypt, with many people realising that such protests are the only way they can get their rights from the Government, after long decades of corruption under Mubarak. A number of new protests have been reported in Alexandria, el-Daqahliya, North Sinai, Sohag and Sharqiya governorates. In Alexandria, doctors and other workers in the Medical Insurance Authority protested on the Corniche for two hours, demanding their bonuses and a pay rise. Meanwhile, in el-Arish, North Sinai Governorate, locals protested because 64 Sinai Bedouin were recently imprisoned in Israel. The protesters demanded that Kamal el-Ganzouri's Governments should take urgent steps to have them freed. In el-Daqahliya, workers protested when their incentives were cut by 33 per cent. In el-Sharqiya Governorate, employees in el-Zaqaziq Municipal Council blocked a busy road and clashed with motorists, smashing up their cars. Protests have been on the increase since the Egyptian revolution, with some experts calling for the concerned laws to be amended, in order to control sit-ins for security reasons. Some of the recent sit-ins have been very uncivilised, for example the blocking of highways by protesters. Some experts believe that those who break the law should be strictly punished. Professor of Constitutional Law Ahmed Hendi told el-Messa daily that the demonstrations prove that the country now enjoys democracy, but the problem is if they get out of hand, leading to chaos and hooliganism. “The location of any protest should also be carefully considered. Some places are unsuitable for protests, such as narrow streets which ambulances find it difficult to access,” he added. Professor of Political Science Gehad Ouda said that the suggested amendments to the Right of Protest Law are a good idea, as protesting is a civil right, as well as a human right. "The new law must determine the conditions under which protests can be held, without harming public institutions," Prof. Ouda stressed. In Egypt, the most populous Arab nation hit by revolution, the economy grew by 1.8 per cent last year, far below the trend of previous years. Egypt's economy is projected to grow by 1.5 per cent and 3.3 per cent in 2012 and 2013 respectively, but it will have double-digit inflation and a negative current account balance, the IMF warned. But the danger is that the current spate of sit-ins could make things worse than economic officials predict. In the medium term, the IMF, in a recent report, called for the "re-orientation of fiscal policies towards poverty reduction and the promotion of productive investment".
