Cairo - Have the Egyptians lost their temper and patience? Indeed they have. The deadlock in the streets of the capital speak much about symptomatic nervous behaviour caused by chaos and insecurity, not to mention a general air of uncertainty where pieces of the political and economic jigsaw puzzle have been misplaced. The confusion and challenges surfacing today have gone beyond imagination, such that the people have failed to understand what is going on just a few weeks before the major event, which the nation has been looking forward to all through the 15 months since January 25 Revolution. The deadly clashes, which have been taking place for a few days now in Abbassiya between protesters and ‘thugs', seem to be a repeated scenario. They are reminiscent of the Battle of the Camel on February 2, 2011 in Tahrir Square, and the subsequent events in nearby Mohamed Mahmoud and Qasr el-Aini Streets etc. Reports of the injuries and a rising death toll are making people very nervous, causing them to be even more fearful over the future of this country. In this way the final stage of the revolution is getting more elusive day after day. Moreover, the collision between Parliament and the Government, with the former suspending its meetings until a Cabinet reshuffle, has dimmed hopes of there being a smooth way out of the transitional phase. The problem is that, while the parliamentary majority insist on the dismissal of the el-Ganzouri Cabinet, the ruling military council, the sole body authorised to make a reshuffle, is reluctant to do so. There has been an exchange of statements between the parliamentary majority and the government where each party persists in sticking to its stand. Differences over the composition of the Constituent Assembly that will draft a new Constitution, which have been going on for weeks, also signify a tendency for complications rather than coming up with an acceptable solution for all political powers. Concerning the situation on the Egyptian borders, there is reason to believe that the situation is precarious. Security forces have been put on the alert in North Sinai to counter the unrest caused by attacks by terrorist groups. Given the intensity of inexplicable events, no one is capable today of predicting where Egypt is heading to and whether the presidential election will be held as slated.
