-
This is what the Egyptian armed forces Spokesperson said
-
Philippines' super typhoon Haiyan most powerful storm in history | Mail Online
Horrifying photos from the Philippines' typhoon Haiyan.
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economy. Show all posts
Monday, 11 November 2013
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
The Washington Post published a report about the best and worst countries for expats from 34 countries
yesterday. The WP is based upon the Expats report of HSBC. According to this report Egypt shamelessly is the worst country to expats , oh yes thanks to our increasing lethal mix of xenophobia and populist nationalism.
From optimistic point of view , We are the first in being worst when it comes to expats in our country !! Yeah the first for being worst !!
Here is Egypt's profile in the report , it only lacks the criteria of "Rising Children abroad".
This is how I started my day.
You know one of my dreams after the 25 January revolution was to restore the cosmopolitan nature of Egypt because I believe Modern Egypt was not only built and flourished by Egyptians but also by fantastic expats who came to our country and found more than a safe asylum starting with those who built the modern Egyptian army that shocked the throne of Ottoman Empire.
I hope that those radical right wing nationalists are happy with that report. I hope that populist nationalist sensational media is happy.
If you add this report to the WEF report , you will have a sad vision about Egypt that we do not want to see or live.
From optimistic point of view , We are the first in being worst when it comes to expats in our country !! Yeah the first for being worst !!
Here is Egypt's profile in the report , it only lacks the criteria of "Rising Children abroad".
This is how I started my day.
You know one of my dreams after the 25 January revolution was to restore the cosmopolitan nature of Egypt because I believe Modern Egypt was not only built and flourished by Egyptians but also by fantastic expats who came to our country and found more than a safe asylum starting with those who built the modern Egyptian army that shocked the throne of Ottoman Empire.
I hope that those radical right wing nationalists are happy with that report. I hope that populist nationalist sensational media is happy.
If you add this report to the WEF report , you will have a sad vision about Egypt that we do not want to see or live.
Friday, 25 October 2013
Thursday, 3 October 2013
Yesterday MB’s RSSD News Network began to post some series of videos online claiming that those clips are a scandal to General Abdel Fatah El Sisi and the army. The first video clip in the series was a very interesting. Its title was : “El Sisi : The military spokesperson is an important attraction factor for ladies” !! Oh yes
RSSD claimed that that video was leaked secretly from a secret meeting exposing the coup. According to what the officers and generals wore winter military uniforms.
Now in that clip we find an officer called Col. Omar “He became famous in social networks” asking General Abdel Fatah El Sisi what he would do then when the media crossed the red lines the army enjoyed for past 50 years. Col. Omar adds that there are TV channels speaking about the army , their owners should be intimidated or encouraged to cooperate with the army and not to cross those holy red lines when speaking about the army. He also asked about the Egyptian armed forces spokesperson Col. Ahmed Mohamed Ali.
The General answered some how wisely if I may say. He said that the revolution dismantled the state and was reassembling it which is true. He also said that they were trying to outreach to the media in different ways and that in the future the red lines may change especially now the army can be questioned in the parliament unlike the past.
El Sisi’s answer when it comes to parliament shows why the army is really concerned by the parliament and accountability. That answer also shows that at least as a commander who comes from an intelligence background El Sisi knows very very well that something has changed.
As a society that loves trivia all people focused on El Sisi and what he said about Col. Ahmed Mohamed Ali “Omar , Ahmed has an attraction factor for the ladies !!”
I do not know about you but his answer was actually insulting to be both Egyptian women “who are
fascinated by how handsome the colonel is as if they are so shallow” and insulting to Ahmed Ali himself as an army officer working in a first degree masculine institution. I believe it is even bad for him as it came form his commander in this way !! I do not deny that he got groupies online ,still it is insulting to judge a man based on his looks online and how to use the looks in the army to gain support !!
By the way in another world I think this video is a gold mine for Bassem Youssef !! Seriously speaking “ Omar who wants to intimidate the media and Col. Ahmed is very attractive to the ladies” !! Needless to say I am dreaming as Youssef dares not really to cross the red line.
Of course Al Jazeera Musbhar Misr could not miss the opportunity and is airing the clip with photos of Col. Ahmed Ali with ladies aka his groupies from Ramdan Iftar and Sohoor parties held by private TV channels day and night. “Really silly photos”
Back to the media’s point; in real world the army does not need to lure the TV channels and media tycoons to its side because in the end they are the old Mubarak regime faces and tycoons. For God sake the military now controls the media whether directly or indirectly.
Other than that “Omar he is attractive” , the video does not incriminate El Sisi that much especially he knew that the world was changing. If the video was incriminating anyone it would be colonel Omar , the perfect example of a military man with an old mindset who refuses accountability and believes in freaking red lines. Needless to say the victim of the clip is Ahmed Ali considering all the jokes and comics about him now online.
After that clip had been released on Wednesday’s night , I had several unanswered questions.
Why the focus on Col. Ahmed Ali !? Earlier this week RSSD claimed that he was dismissed from his position and on the same day this claim was denied. Who really did leak this video and why now ?? It was from Winter 2013 during Morsi’s rule ? Why would RSSD publish this video now jeopardizing the life of its founder and manager Samahy Mostafa who is currently detained as a MB member ??
The question of who leaked the video was answered somehow by the current administration of RSSD that claimed that officers inside in the Morale department “responsible for PR and media in army” leaked the video. The RSSD administrator added that there would be more videos in the way and they were true. Today they posted two other videos.
The first video is about economy where El Sisi was answering some question of an officer in 2 minutes.
We do not know what the question was but from the answer we can guess that El Sisi aka Nasser 2013 is not a socialist but rather a hardcore capitalist. He believes that to build an economy people should pay for the services they get for instance and I will quote him.
I guess the officer asked him about the services they got in the army from mobile phones and the financial facilities.
By the way the true capitalists in Egypt , real capitalists I know from businessmen do not like how the army get involved in economy and so on. It is not a secret that the clash between Gamal Mubarak’s businessmen lobby and the army over the land and projects in Egypt.
Also it is worth to mention that the Muslim brotherhood was supporting capitalism and neoliberalism too during Morsi’s rule !!
Then RSSD released another leak and again it is short and edited to the level we do not know in what context the general was speaking about. The clip was only 0:38 seconds !!
Now I had to repeat what he said to understand his answer to officer Ahmed whom I speculate that he was asking about officers and protests. I believe what he said that after what happened “the revolution” the officer will not shoot you and hit you in the eye and that why he will not stand a trial , of course I could be wrong. I just do not get what he said precisely.
RSSD then claimed that it would post more clips in the upcoming hours.
Anyhow it turned out that this secret meeting was not secret after all , it was a meeting with the Chemical warfare officers last December 2012 “During Morsi’s rule”. The meeting was recorded by the Morale department in the army. It is unclear how it was leaked.
Now the MB supporters and members promote those clips as evidence on how El Sisi is bad. The revolutionaries got concerns about the army and media as well the economy , they are also angry for that stupid insult to Egyptian women.
The Pro-military supporters now are repeating the same words when they are confronted with such videos : So what , there is nothing wrong in the video as El Sisi appears to be a wise man and the Muslim brotherhood are actually promoting the guy accidentally. Well those people do not give damn honestly to the status of media in Egypt or how much the parliament is independent from the army in order to do its supervisory role as it should or the economy or anything.
Some people believe that the army and Abdel Fatah El Sisi are actually behind those leaks using RSSD’s stupidity to promote for the general as a president.
Colonel Ahmed Ali’s groupies online say that Colonel Omar is jealous from Ali !!
I do not know why I have the feeling that there is something wrong in mount Olympus for real.I just do not know and I doubt that real human beings understand what is really happening.
Adel Fatah El Sisi speaking about media and army.
Now in that clip we find an officer called Col. Omar “He became famous in social networks” asking General Abdel Fatah El Sisi what he would do then when the media crossed the red lines the army enjoyed for past 50 years. Col. Omar adds that there are TV channels speaking about the army , their owners should be intimidated or encouraged to cooperate with the army and not to cross those holy red lines when speaking about the army. He also asked about the Egyptian armed forces spokesperson Col. Ahmed Mohamed Ali.
The General answered some how wisely if I may say. He said that the revolution dismantled the state and was reassembling it which is true. He also said that they were trying to outreach to the media in different ways and that in the future the red lines may change especially now the army can be questioned in the parliament unlike the past.
El Sisi’s answer when it comes to parliament shows why the army is really concerned by the parliament and accountability. That answer also shows that at least as a commander who comes from an intelligence background El Sisi knows very very well that something has changed.
As a society that loves trivia all people focused on El Sisi and what he said about Col. Ahmed Mohamed Ali “Omar , Ahmed has an attraction factor for the ladies !!”
I do not know about you but his answer was actually insulting to be both Egyptian women “who are
 |
| Col. Ali |
By the way in another world I think this video is a gold mine for Bassem Youssef !! Seriously speaking “ Omar who wants to intimidate the media and Col. Ahmed is very attractive to the ladies” !! Needless to say I am dreaming as Youssef dares not really to cross the red line.
Of course Al Jazeera Musbhar Misr could not miss the opportunity and is airing the clip with photos of Col. Ahmed Ali with ladies aka his groupies from Ramdan Iftar and Sohoor parties held by private TV channels day and night. “Really silly photos”
Back to the media’s point; in real world the army does not need to lure the TV channels and media tycoons to its side because in the end they are the old Mubarak regime faces and tycoons. For God sake the military now controls the media whether directly or indirectly.
Other than that “Omar he is attractive” , the video does not incriminate El Sisi that much especially he knew that the world was changing. If the video was incriminating anyone it would be colonel Omar , the perfect example of a military man with an old mindset who refuses accountability and believes in freaking red lines. Needless to say the victim of the clip is Ahmed Ali considering all the jokes and comics about him now online.
After that clip had been released on Wednesday’s night , I had several unanswered questions.
Why the focus on Col. Ahmed Ali !? Earlier this week RSSD claimed that he was dismissed from his position and on the same day this claim was denied. Who really did leak this video and why now ?? It was from Winter 2013 during Morsi’s rule ? Why would RSSD publish this video now jeopardizing the life of its founder and manager Samahy Mostafa who is currently detained as a MB member ??
The question of who leaked the video was answered somehow by the current administration of RSSD that claimed that officers inside in the Morale department “responsible for PR and media in army” leaked the video. The RSSD administrator added that there would be more videos in the way and they were true. Today they posted two other videos.
The first video is about economy where El Sisi was answering some question of an officer in 2 minutes.
El Sisi speaks about economy
If I were the ruler of Egypt , I would make the speaker in the mobile phone pays and the listener pays as well. My son people are all putting the mobile phone handsets on their ears everywhere including polls queues.The video clips are edited so you can not have a full judgment for what the man said. He also added a remark that would please the public “The army should be the first in paying the services it gets.
I guess the officer asked him about the services they got in the army from mobile phones and the financial facilities.
By the way the true capitalists in Egypt , real capitalists I know from businessmen do not like how the army get involved in economy and so on. It is not a secret that the clash between Gamal Mubarak’s businessmen lobby and the army over the land and projects in Egypt.
Also it is worth to mention that the Muslim brotherhood was supporting capitalism and neoliberalism too during Morsi’s rule !!
Then RSSD released another leak and again it is short and edited to the level we do not know in what context the general was speaking about. The clip was only 0:38 seconds !!
El Sisi ; The police officer and the protesters
RSSD then claimed that it would post more clips in the upcoming hours.
Anyhow it turned out that this secret meeting was not secret after all , it was a meeting with the Chemical warfare officers last December 2012 “During Morsi’s rule”. The meeting was recorded by the Morale department in the army. It is unclear how it was leaked.
Now the MB supporters and members promote those clips as evidence on how El Sisi is bad. The revolutionaries got concerns about the army and media as well the economy , they are also angry for that stupid insult to Egyptian women.
The Pro-military supporters now are repeating the same words when they are confronted with such videos : So what , there is nothing wrong in the video as El Sisi appears to be a wise man and the Muslim brotherhood are actually promoting the guy accidentally. Well those people do not give damn honestly to the status of media in Egypt or how much the parliament is independent from the army in order to do its supervisory role as it should or the economy or anything.
Some people believe that the army and Abdel Fatah El Sisi are actually behind those leaks using RSSD’s stupidity to promote for the general as a president.
Colonel Ahmed Ali’s groupies online say that Colonel Omar is jealous from Ali !!
I do not know why I have the feeling that there is something wrong in mount Olympus for real.I just do not know and I doubt that real human beings understand what is really happening.
Thursday, 26 September 2013
From two hours ago the internet is back to Sudan and with it news are pouring from there and they are not good. It seems that yesterday was a night of hell.
According to the photos , videos and testimonies of eye witnesses online Omdurman has witnessed a massacre. Officially the government is saying that 27 only were killed while activists and opposition movements say that over 130 protesters including women and children have been killed in the past 48 hours. Hundreds are transferred to hospitals every hour as far I could tell from the tweets and updates I read on Facebook. The director of Omdurman hospital was arrested after speaking to the media.
The tragedies continue and activists are reporting that the Omdurman morgue refuses to let the families to bury their relatives except when they sign papers that those relatives are thugs and criminals. In fact it is much worse to know that there are racism in it , light Skin Sudanese protesters are considered thieves while the dark skin Sudanese protesters are considered murderers in the eyes of the bloody El Bashir regime.
The photos from Omdurman hospital gives you the impression that there was an actually massacre going on in the city. “Warning : Extremely graphic”
It was like a déjà vu of January 28 ,2011 in Egypt where the regime’s forces and security thugs unleashed a night of horror that ended at about 5 AM. Tweeps are reporting that protesters arrested security agents wearing civilian cloths trying to break an ATM. The people there are also saying that those security agents aka thugs go and set fires at the fuel stations.
For the third day in row protests continue not only in the cities Khartoum and Omdurman but in other areas as well including North Kordofan , Al Jazeera and Port Sudan. The protests are still going despite the crackdown. People are extremely angry. They are holding night protests.
Shops and markets are closed . The streets are deserted in some areas in Khartoum. Some areas there reportedly suffer from bread shortage. In some cities angry protesters have blocked the roads.
It is serious as it seems El Bashir cancelled his visit to the UNGA , some say that he is afraid from the warrant on his head but personally I believe it is not only the warrant. He is afraid of further developments in Sudan as well.
Interestingly the Sudanese minister of defense interrupted his visit to Jeddah and returned back to Khartoum earlier today. I do not know if he is going to pull a Sisi move considering that he was visiting the Kingdom that is vowing to bring the Muslim brotherhood everywhere or what.
I will not speak much because now we got material coming from Sudan after a crazy night.
Here is a footage taken from TV channel “I do no know which one” showing the security forces using live ammunition.
Sudan : Security forces shooting protesters.
Here is another video showing the protests in Omdurman yesterday.
Protests in Omdurman yesterday.
Here is another graphic video showing a protester shot down.
Tomorrow the Sudanese are planning for big protests. You know our Fridays in the Arab world as you know. There are strong rumors that the Sudanese regime is going to cut off the internet in the country for the upcoming 48 hours.
Protests are planned right after the Friday prayers. I see now online statements from political groups with demands like completely accountability for those responsible of the killing of the protesters and lowering the prices of the commodities. I have not seen the famous demand of forcing the president to step down.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
I am already taking some time off away from the blog and social media altogether yet I am forced to return back with all the developments taking place right now in Sudan.
For two days now protests are rocking the Sudanese cities especially in Khartoum and its surrounding suburbs. Protesters set the headquarters of the ruling party “NCP” on fire as well some police stations and checkpoints after they were attacked by security forces that did not hesitate in live ammunition.
As usual the peaceful angry protests are met with violent crack down. The latest numbers we got at 21 have been killed and hundreds have bee injured. The fatalities are caused by live ammunition fired by security forces. Updated : Numbers are jumping as eye witnesses are telling Girifana that Omdurman hospital’s morgue got at least 30 bodies while another witness told the famous political group that he saw 17 dead bodies at a police station in the area.
Not less than 1500 protesters have been arrested in the protests in the past 48 hours.
Updated @11:41 Cairo Local time :
According to some estimation the death toll in Omdurman has become 73 at least. Some say even bigger numbers.
The students are playing role in this uprising especially in high schools and universities as far as I understand. One of the young student martyrs whose picture is shared online earlier was Hazaa Jafaar who was killed yesterday. Today the Sudanese security forces attacked his funeral by tear gas grenades." I have seen this before in Egypt , same tactics and same moves”
The protests erupted after the government’s decision to raise the fuel prices by 75%.
Now as Omar El Bashir is stupid as other dictators like Mubarak, the Sudanese regime cut the internet off the country for several hours
The internet was cut off Sudan for 2 hours starting from 1 PM to 3 PM then it returned back for only 10 minutes then it was cut off again since then and returned back at 9:52 PM Cairo local time for short time and again it is cut !!
Here is a diagram showing how the internet is completely cut off in Sudan earlier.
Five private TV channels were also shut down temporarily but they are back on air according to Girifna “We fed up” group. Please follow this group on Facebook to get the latest updates from Sudan. Here is its twitter account.
Also follow those hashtags for live updates from Sudan : #SudanRevolts and #Abena “We reject"
A TV host called Salafa Abadafeera was arrested for criticizing the crackdown.The Sudanese Journalists Network announces a general strike follow the prevention of newspapers from publishing tomorrow according to journalist Ashraf Ghalay.
It is not all about the fuel prices in Sudan , this is an accumulated anger and if you remember last year the Sudanese revolted but their revolt was dispersed violently. Through the year Sudanese activists have been reporting of the human rights violations committed by Omar El Bashir’s regime against Sudanese citizens and the activists.
The fuel prices are like the last straw.
I would like to hint out that El Bashir’s regime is the worst mix of regimes ever : Religious+military regime in one shot !!
There is no enough media coverage and I think this is what El Bashir holds on keeping an iron curtain for real in Sudan. Foreign correspondents are not that free to move around with cameras , in fact I got two friends who used to work as foreign correspondents in Sudan but were kicked out from there for doing their job.
Anyhow here is a photo gallery for the protests yesterday.
Here is also also a storify photo gallery showing the protests in the past 48 from social media. Not much though.
Now here is a video clip allegedly filmed today.
Here is another video clip. I do not know when it was filmed but it was uploaded today before the internet cut.
Another graphic video showing a student shot down and killed by security forces.
For two days now protests are rocking the Sudanese cities especially in Khartoum and its surrounding suburbs. Protesters set the headquarters of the ruling party “NCP” on fire as well some police stations and checkpoints after they were attacked by security forces that did not hesitate in live ammunition.
 |
| Late Hazaa |
Not less than 1500 protesters have been arrested in the protests in the past 48 hours.
Updated @11:41 Cairo Local time :
According to some estimation the death toll in Omdurman has become 73 at least. Some say even bigger numbers.
The students are playing role in this uprising especially in high schools and universities as far as I understand. One of the young student martyrs whose picture is shared online earlier was Hazaa Jafaar who was killed yesterday. Today the Sudanese security forces attacked his funeral by tear gas grenades." I have seen this before in Egypt , same tactics and same moves”
The protests erupted after the government’s decision to raise the fuel prices by 75%.
Now as Omar El Bashir is stupid as other dictators like Mubarak, the Sudanese regime cut the internet off the country for several hours
The internet was cut off Sudan for 2 hours starting from 1 PM to 3 PM then it returned back for only 10 minutes then it was cut off again since then and returned back at 9:52 PM Cairo local time for short time and again it is cut !!
Here is a diagram showing how the internet is completely cut off in Sudan earlier.
Five private TV channels were also shut down temporarily but they are back on air according to Girifna “We fed up” group. Please follow this group on Facebook to get the latest updates from Sudan. Here is its twitter account. Also follow those hashtags for live updates from Sudan : #SudanRevolts and #Abena “We reject"
A TV host called Salafa Abadafeera was arrested for criticizing the crackdown.The Sudanese Journalists Network announces a general strike follow the prevention of newspapers from publishing tomorrow according to journalist Ashraf Ghalay.
It is not all about the fuel prices in Sudan , this is an accumulated anger and if you remember last year the Sudanese revolted but their revolt was dispersed violently. Through the year Sudanese activists have been reporting of the human rights violations committed by Omar El Bashir’s regime against Sudanese citizens and the activists.
The fuel prices are like the last straw.
I would like to hint out that El Bashir’s regime is the worst mix of regimes ever : Religious+military regime in one shot !!
There is no enough media coverage and I think this is what El Bashir holds on keeping an iron curtain for real in Sudan. Foreign correspondents are not that free to move around with cameras , in fact I got two friends who used to work as foreign correspondents in Sudan but were kicked out from there for doing their job.
Anyhow here is a photo gallery for the protests yesterday.
Here is also also a storify photo gallery showing the protests in the past 48 from social media. Not much though.
Now here is a video clip allegedly filmed today.
Here is another video clip. I do not know when it was filmed but it was uploaded today before the internet cut.
Another graphic video showing a student shot down and killed by security forces.
There is no enough media coverage for what is happening in Sudan for real.
Before the internet was cut , some protests were live broadcasted shortly on Bambuser. Monday, 9 September 2013
The world economic forum issued its annual Global Competitiveness index for year 2013 –2014 . Read it and you will know how Egypt needs a real revolution in every aspect in order to survive this ongoing world race.
fiscal deficit, rising public indebtedness, and persisting inflationary pressures. A credible fiscal consolidation plan, accompanied by structural reforms, will be necessary in order to maintain macroeconomic stability in the country. This may prove difficult in times of rising energy prices, as energy subsidies account for a considerable share of public expenditure. However, better targeting of subsidies could allow for fiscal
consolidation while protecting the most vulnerable. Second, measures to intensify domestic competition would result in efficiency gains and contribute to energizing the economy by providing access to new entrants. This, in turn, would make the country’s private sector more dynamic, thereby contributing to job creation. And third, making labor markets flexible (141st) and more efficient (145th) would allow the country to increase employment in the medium term.
First here is the ranking of the Middle East countries arranged “as well other countries I found interesting in the report” as they appear in the report.
| Country | Rank “Out of 148” | Score “1-7” | Rank among “2012-2013” economies | GCI “2012-2013” |
| Qatar | 13 | 5.24 | 13 | 11 |
| UAE | 19 | 5.11 | 19 | 24 |
| KSA | 20 | 5.10 | 20 | 18 |
| Israel | 27 | 4.94 | 27 | 26 |
| Oman | 33 | 4.64 | 33 | 32 |
| Kuwait | 36 | 4.56 | 36 | 37 |
| Bahrain | 43 | 4.45 | 43 | 35 |
| Turkey | 44 | 4.45 | 44 | 43 |
| Jordan | 68 | 4.20 | 68 | 64 |
| Iran | 82 | 4.07 | 81 | 66 |
| Tunisia | 83 | 4.06 | n/a | n/a |
| Algeria | 100 | 3.79 | 98 | 110 |
| Lebanon | 103 | 3.77 | 101 | 91 |
| Libya | 108 | 3.73 | 106 | 113 |
| Egypt | 118 | 3.63 | 115 | 107 |
| Mauritania | 141 | 3.19 | 137 | 134 |
| Yemen | 145 | 2.98 | 140 | 140 |
| Chad | 148 | 2.85 | 143 | 139 |
Here is an info graph for the top ten Arab countries in the report. Of course all of them are rich oil gulf states.
 |
| Click in to zoom in "World economic forum" |
Nevertheless you will find Israel after Qatar, UAE and KSA in the ranking when it has no oil.
Here is also an info graph about top ten Sub Saharan African countries.
 |
| Click to zoom in |
Shamelessly Egypt comes in the 118th rank. It went down from 115 in 2012-2013 to 118 in 2013-2014. We used to be in the 94th rank in 2011-2012.
Here is what is written about Egypt in the report itself :
Egypt drops by 11 positions to reach 118th place in this year’s GCI. This assessment is likely influenced by the country’s continued transition since the events of the Arab Spring. The deteriorating security situation and tenacious political instability are undermining the country’s competitiveness and its growth potential going forward. Although resolving political friction needs to remain the priority as this Report goes to print, many of the underlying factors that will be decisive about the sustainability of the country and the cohesion of the society over the medium to longer term are economic in nature. Establishing confidence through a credible and far-reaching reform program will be vital to the country’s future and to realizing the considerable potential of the country’s large market size and proximity to key global markets. According to the GCI, three areas are of particular importance. First, the macroeconomic environment has deteriorated over recent years to reach 140th position mainly because of widening fiscal deficit, rising public indebtedness, and persisting inflationary pressures. A credible fiscal consolidation plan, accompanied by structural reforms, will be necessary in order to maintain macroeconomic stability in the country. This may prove difficult in times of rising energy prices, as energy subsidies account for a considerable share of public expenditure. However, better targeting of subsidies could allow for fiscal
consolidation while protecting the most vulnerable. Second, measures to intensify domestic competition would result in efficiency gains and contribute to energizing the economy by providing access to new entrants. This, in turn, would make the country’s private sector more dynamic, thereby contributing to job creation. And third, making labor markets flexible (141st) and more efficient (145th) would allow the country to increase employment in the medium term.
There is no doubt that we are paying the price of the political changes in Egypt as the report says “turmoil”. Still if you think about , we did not reach to this low ranking among other developing and poor countries in the world because of the past three years but rather because of the past 33 years especially when it comes to education.
Here are the scores of Egypt in the report, one thing for sure we are a big market.
 |
| Click to zoom in |
The original 25 January Revolution erupted from two years ago because of the reasons that lead a country like Egypt to hit rock bottom like that , at least this is my case.
We do not have true political leaders or figures that even have got a vision to see Egypt as true leading power using our capabilities and sources. We are still living in the great slogans that “Egypt is the mother of the world” and “Egypt is the most independent nation in the history of the mankind” not to mention “The world is plotting against us” to the end of those nationalist slogans.
We need a balanced economic policies to ensure social justice and at the same time to improve the economy and encourage investments.
We should not depend only on tourism and Suez canal as main sources of income. I am not an economic expert but I know true economic development will be achieved if we have true political reforms that support transparency and accountability.
Needless to say,I do not know if the people really want democracy , accountability and transparency anymore in Egypt.
God does not help the fool nor the lazy but we continue to believe that God won’t let us down. Well the problem is that we are the ones who let ourselves down over and over as people with our choices.
Here is the full report in PDF.
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
First of all Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei has sworn in from couple of days ago as the vice president of Egypt for foreign affairs. Yes here is the the video below.
I believe that is a huge responsibility on ElBaradei. He will face a lot of challenges. Already the world looks to Egypt and feels sad for the coup that took place against the elected president. ElBaradei’s name and credibility abroad should send the message that this is not a coup.There is no doubt that the democratic progress in this country is the true indicator whether it is a coup or not.
Some people began to believe that the invincible Egyptian deep state is trying to burn ElBaradei and other reformists in the same way like the Muslim brotherhood. “Of course with the MB it was an easy mission”
Personally I wish Dr. ElBaradei all the luck and success for real because I believe he could be from the people who can break the cycle I spoke about it before.
Now we began to see the final formation of the “crisis” cabinet. Oh yes this is its name now “Crisis” cabinet and God knows it does not face a single crisis but a series of crises.
The cabinet is headed by the liberal economist and co-founder of Egyptian Social Democratic Party PM Hazem El Beblawi. Here are the names and short bios of the 33 ministers. “There problems regarding ministry of justice and ministry of transportation”
There are 3 women in this cabinet : Doria Sharaf El Din , Laila Iskander and Maha Rabat
There are also there are three Christians : Ramzy George , Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour and Laila Iskander. We got two Wafd party members , two Constitution Party members , two Egyptian Social Democractic party members , One member from Egypt party and one member from El Karma Party.
There are 3 ministers from police : Supply, Local development and interior
I know someone is missing, tomorrow I will check them again
One of the most important demands Egyptians had been begging the Muslim brotherhood for a new cabinet. That demand if it were fulfilled in time , would have changed a lot.
ElBaradei swears in
Some people began to believe that the invincible Egyptian deep state is trying to burn ElBaradei and other reformists in the same way like the Muslim brotherhood. “Of course with the MB it was an easy mission”
Personally I wish Dr. ElBaradei all the luck and success for real because I believe he could be from the people who can break the cycle I spoke about it before.
Now we began to see the final formation of the “crisis” cabinet. Oh yes this is its name now “Crisis” cabinet and God knows it does not face a single crisis but a series of crises.
The cabinet is headed by the liberal economist and co-founder of Egyptian Social Democratic Party PM Hazem El Beblawi. Here are the names and short bios of the 33 ministers. “There problems regarding ministry of justice and ministry of transportation”
- Ziad Bahaa El Din as deputy PM and minister of International Cooperation: A co-founder of the Egyptian Social democratic party. An economist and lawyer. Very respectable man according to those who know him. “Yup it turned out that I got relatives and friends who know him personally”
- Nabil Ismail Fahmy as minister of foreign affairs : The former Egypt ambassador to Washington and founding dean of the school of public affairs in the AUC. He is the son of late minister of foreign affairs Ismail Fahmy. He is a member in the constitution party headed by ElBaradei.It is worth to mention that Dr. ElBaradei was Ismail Fahmy’s aide and resigned with him in the mid 1970s. Now to the son I think he was chosen to amend the relations with D.C.
- Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour as minister of industry : The leading member of Al Wafd Party is returning back to cabinet as a minister of industry. The 1945 born former minister of tourism descends from a famous political Coptic Christian family. Abdel Nour is a businessman and he is the founder of the famous Vitrac for Jams company.
- Ahmed Galal as minister of finance : The World bank veteran and economist is chosen from this position after several names. He has been the managing director of the Economic Research Forum (ERF), a research institution covering the Middle East, since 2007. Galal worked in the bank for nearly 18 years in different positions : As industrial economist for Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, as economic advisor at the private sector development department, and finally as adviser on the Middle East and North Africa from 2006 to 2007
- Doria Sharf El Din as minister of information : The political sciences graduate is a famous critic , writer and TV host. Her TV show “Cinema Club” on Ch.1 of the Egyptian National TV continued for decades till it was stopped suddenly in 2009. She headed the arts censorship for some time. She is considered the first woman to hold this position. The revolutionaries in Maspero aka National TV do not welcome her as they accuse her of being a member in the NDP policies committee. Again we got a promise from the Presidency that the ministry of information will be cancelled and Sharf El Din would be her last minister.
- Kamal Abu Eita as minister of manpower : The 1953 born labor activist and icon has at last become the minister of manpower. According to some this is a victory for real for the 25 January revolution. Leftist Nasserite Abu Eita Abu is known for leading the formation of the first independent trade union, the Real Estate Tax Authority Independent General Union, in 2009 after leading the Tax Authority employees’ national strike in 2007. A former MP in the 2012 parliament , Abu Eita a member of the Nasserite El Karma Party ran on the Freedom and Justice Party’s electoral list. Amazingly Egypt Labor Union is protesting against Abu Eita.
- Hossam Eissa as minister of higher education : The co-founding member of the Constitution Party is a professor of the Constitutional law. He is also appointed as a deputy PM.
- Mohamed Amin Mahdy as minister of transitional justice and national reconciliation: The 1936 born minister of the newly founded ministry used to head the State council and the administrative court. Despite his impressive Wikipedia page and his history , the Judges Club does not approve his nomination to become the minister of Justice.Thus a new ministry came to life. I do not know why El Zend does not like him . Anyhow Mahdy’s father was a member in the Old Wafd member. He was a member our legal team in Taba dispute as well and a former judge in the International tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Judge Mahdy was also a member in the first fact finding committee of 25 January revolution.
- Ahmed Emam as minister of electricity : In one of the mysteries of the universe the minister of electricity in the last Hisham Qandil’s cabinet continues in his position despite the frequent blackout !!
- Ibrahim Mahlab as minister of housing : The former CEO of Arab contractors. He was a member in the NDP and its police committee. He also was appointed as a MP in the Shura council during the days of Mubarak. After serving as the CEO of Arab Contractors “appointed by Ibrahim Soliman” , he resigned in 2012.
- Ahmed El Borai as minister of social solidarity : The co-founder and leading member of Constitution Party. Dr. ElBorai served as minister of manpower during the first Essam Sharaf’s cabinet.
- Hisham Zazou as minister of tourism : The 1954 born minister used to be the minister of tourism in Hisham Kandil cabinet.
- Adel Labib as minister of local development : The 1945 born was the former governor of Al Behaira and Alexandria as well Qena during the time of Mubarak. The former police general became the governor of Qena once again in August 2011 after the protests of the locals demanding him by name and rejecting the Christian governor appointed there. On the other hand Alexandrians do not welcome his appointments.
- Maha Rabat as minister of health : All what we know about Dr. Maha is that she is the head of the public health department in the faculty of medicine , Cairo university. She was nominated by the National Council of Woman. Some activists including Mamdouh Hamza accuse her of working in privatizing public hospitals with the help of the U.S. Aid program during the Mubarak era. Trivial info : She graduated from the faculty of medicine in 1982.
- Laila Iskander as minister of environment : Laila Iskander is renowned figure as social entrepreneur working in environmental development. I think it is one of the best choices n the cabinet.
- Ramzy George as minister of scientific research : Nothing much about except that he was graduated from the faculty of agriculture , Cairo university in 1963.
- Atef Helmy as minister of telecommunications : The former general manager of Oracle Egypt continued in his position as minister of telecommunication. Helmy was graduated from the military technical colleague in 1973 and took a diploma in computer science in 1979. He served in the army from 1973 to 1983 then he left it to work in the civilian telecommunications field and multinational companies till he joined Oracle Egypt in 1996. His CV is quite impressive for real.
- Mohamed Ibrahim as minister of Antiquities : He used to serve as the minister of antiquities in Hisham Qandil’s cabinet. Archeologists in Egypt are extremely furious to find him again as minister. The archeologists are angry and are going to have a sit in against him tomorrow.
- Khaled Abdel Aziz as minister of youth : The member of Egypt Party was a former minister of youth before during Essam Sharaf Cabinet. I do no know what the need for this position is except it is something from the 1960s legacy. Egypt Party is founded by famous preacher Amr Khaled by the way. Khaled Talmiah , the member of popular current and famous activist recommended him to PM Beblawi.
- Tarek Abu Ziad as minister of Sports : The famous and popular ex-footballer born in 1962. Abu Ziad was the minister of this unneeded ministry during Essam Sharaf’s cabinet. He is a member of Al Wafd Party and ran for parliament in 2010 and lost for the NDP.
- Mahmoud Abou El Nasr as minister of education : The current faculty member of Cairo University’s mechanical engineering department was heading the mechanical education in the ministry of education.
- Sherif Ismail as minister of petroleum : He was the Chairman of Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE)
- Abdel Aziz Fadel as minister of civil aviation : The former Air forces engineer joined Egypt Air in 2003.In 2004 he became the Vice President for Egypt Air.
- Mohamed Abdel Motaleb as minister of irrigation and water sources : Mohamed Abdel Motaleb was the chairman of the National Water Resource center since 2012. According to his profile at the National Water Research Center website Professor Abdel Motaleb has over 25 years of experience in the field of water resources management. The current minister of irrigation and water sources holds a Ph.D. from Colorado State University and is a member in the world water Council.
- Osama Saleh as minister of investment : The 1960 born was a minister of investment in the first Hisham Qandil’s cabinet. Before that he was the chairman of chairman of Egypt's General Authority for Free Zones and Investment (GAFI). The graduate of the faculty of commerce ,Cairo University was appointed by former PM Nazif in 2009 as chairman of GAFI.
- Ashraf Al Arabi as minister of planning : Al Arabi was also a minister in the first Hisham Qandil’s cabinet in August 2012. El-Arabi received his PhD in the subject from Kansas State University in the United States. From 2006 until the end of 2011 he headed the technical advisory office of the former planning minister, Fayza Abul-Naga.
- Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa as minister of religious affairs : The Sheikh works in the office of the grand Emam of Al Azhar as far as I have read.
- Mohamed Saber Arab as minister of Culture.
- Mohamed Abu Shady as minister of supply : A former police general.
- Ayman Abu Hadid as minister of Agriculture : The former head of the Agriculture researches center was a minister of agriculture in the first Essam Sharaf cabinet after the revolution.
There are 3 women in this cabinet : Doria Sharaf El Din , Laila Iskander and Maha Rabat
There are also there are three Christians : Ramzy George , Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour and Laila Iskander. We got two Wafd party members , two Constitution Party members , two Egyptian Social Democractic party members , One member from Egypt party and one member from El Karma Party.
There are 3 ministers from police : Supply, Local development and interior
I know someone is missing, tomorrow I will check them again
One of the most important demands Egyptians had been begging the Muslim brotherhood for a new cabinet. That demand if it were fulfilled in time , would have changed a lot.
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
At last we have a PM in Egypt. Interim Adli Mansour appointed Liberal prominent economist Hazem Al Beblawi after hard labor to get an interim prime minister.
Already I wonder why Al Nour Party reject Mohamed ElBaradei and Ziad Bahaa El Din as prime ministers Egyptian Social Democratic Party. The Salafists were requesting a non partisan figure. I do not understand the Shift in their opinion.
and accepted Dr. El Beblawi. He is liberal last time checked and like Bahaa El Din he is co-founder of the Egyptian social Democratic Party.
A quick look to the bio of the 1936 born liberal economist will make you wonder why Egypt did not hire him earlier as PM. Well from what the former minister in Essam Sharaf’s cabinet after 25 January revolution refused all the offers from Mubarak and his regime. It is worth to mention that the Freedom and Justice Party website is using an op-ed for him where he said that he would vote for Gamal Mubarak to prove that he is bad. Ironically and sadly enough no one bothered to read his 2010 Op-ed where he actually slammed Gamal Mubarak reaching to the conclusion that he would not vote for him.
Of course it is worth to mention that the MB leading figures including the former president himself had similar quotes praising Mubarak, his son and the NDP icons in the media.
Appointing El Beblawi was not the only thing Adly Mansour did today, aside from meetings with revolutionary youth political figures to discuss the Constitutional declaration , he appointed Mohamed ElBaradei his vice President for foreign affairs and democratic transition.
Mahmoud Badr of Tamaroud revealed that El Bob does not want to be a PM and preferred an economist to be the PM of Egypt now where as he would responsible for the political transition file.
Anyhow there is a new saga facing El Beblawi or rather Mansour to form a technocrat cabinet in Egypt.Mansour already got more powers than El Beblawi according to the new Constitutional declaration.
That Constitutional declaration has been rejected by several political groups like the NSF and Tamaroud. Supposedly it will be amended this week. We will see.
Now trivia time
The majority of Egyptians on Facebook got nothing to speak about except the old age of our new PM. There are jokes that the first thing Dr. El Beblawi will do in the cabinet is to revise the 1936 treat and that former PM Ganzoury considers him a reckless young. Another joke that is taking the social media by storm “The youth of 1919 revolution have got their chance in rule”
On the other hand some Egyptians , few began to discuss the man’s economic polices and thoughts. The Leftists consider him a neoliberal who will not have the social justice goal of the revolution in front of his eyes. Well I am afraid he has to put it in front of his eyes because if no social justice polices are adopted sooner we will have hunger revolution.
Already I wonder why Al Nour Party reject Mohamed ElBaradei and Ziad Bahaa El Din as prime ministers Egyptian Social Democratic Party. The Salafists were requesting a non partisan figure. I do not understand the Shift in their opinion.
 |
| PM Beblawi |
A quick look to the bio of the 1936 born liberal economist will make you wonder why Egypt did not hire him earlier as PM. Well from what the former minister in Essam Sharaf’s cabinet after 25 January revolution refused all the offers from Mubarak and his regime. It is worth to mention that the Freedom and Justice Party website is using an op-ed for him where he said that he would vote for Gamal Mubarak to prove that he is bad. Ironically and sadly enough no one bothered to read his 2010 Op-ed where he actually slammed Gamal Mubarak reaching to the conclusion that he would not vote for him.
Of course it is worth to mention that the MB leading figures including the former president himself had similar quotes praising Mubarak, his son and the NDP icons in the media.
Appointing El Beblawi was not the only thing Adly Mansour did today, aside from meetings with revolutionary youth political figures to discuss the Constitutional declaration , he appointed Mohamed ElBaradei his vice President for foreign affairs and democratic transition.
Mahmoud Badr of Tamaroud revealed that El Bob does not want to be a PM and preferred an economist to be the PM of Egypt now where as he would responsible for the political transition file.
Anyhow there is a new saga facing El Beblawi or rather Mansour to form a technocrat cabinet in Egypt.Mansour already got more powers than El Beblawi according to the new Constitutional declaration.
That Constitutional declaration has been rejected by several political groups like the NSF and Tamaroud. Supposedly it will be amended this week. We will see.
Now trivia time
The majority of Egyptians on Facebook got nothing to speak about except the old age of our new PM. There are jokes that the first thing Dr. El Beblawi will do in the cabinet is to revise the 1936 treat and that former PM Ganzoury considers him a reckless young. Another joke that is taking the social media by storm “The youth of 1919 revolution have got their chance in rule”
On the other hand some Egyptians , few began to discuss the man’s economic polices and thoughts. The Leftists consider him a neoliberal who will not have the social justice goal of the revolution in front of his eyes. Well I am afraid he has to put it in front of his eyes because if no social justice polices are adopted sooner we will have hunger revolution.
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
This is the first edition from Al Akhbar Newspaper issue on Tuesday
The front page headline in Red is "Mama Qatar provides Gas to Egypt". It is about the decision of Qatar to give Egypt natural gas supply in Summer
The first edition was pulled back from the newsstand in one of the first incident of its own in 2013 when it comes to newspapers and state-owned newspapers in particular in Morsi's first regardless of what you think about the headline.
Of course speaking professionally this is a Front page headline that would make Mostafa Amin May Allah bless his soul curse the current editor in chief of Daily Al Akhbar and his journalists. Mostafa Amin got a school of his own when it came to headlines but fine one not a cheap one like that. This is a headline that suites tabloid newspaper not a newspaper with long history like Al Akhbar
Anyhow the second edition was printed and it had a different headline
The second edition of the newspaper was "Qatar gives away gas to Egypt" , of course the correct translation of that phrase from Arabic to English would "Qatar gives gas as a present to Egypt".
I believe someone was fired today in Al Akhbar.
I am surprised , truly surprised that Al Akhbar Newspaper published this headline considering the fact that Al Akhbar is state-owned newspaper and currently is headed by Islamist leaning editorial team. There is nothing published on the front page except when it is revised by regime representative.
 |
| Mama Qatar provides Gas to Egypt |
The first edition was pulled back from the newsstand in one of the first incident of its own in 2013 when it comes to newspapers and state-owned newspapers in particular in Morsi's first regardless of what you think about the headline.
Of course speaking professionally this is a Front page headline that would make Mostafa Amin May Allah bless his soul curse the current editor in chief of Daily Al Akhbar and his journalists. Mostafa Amin got a school of his own when it came to headlines but fine one not a cheap one like that. This is a headline that suites tabloid newspaper not a newspaper with long history like Al Akhbar
Anyhow the second edition was printed and it had a different headline
 |
| Below "Qatar gives away gas to Egypt" |
I believe someone was fired today in Al Akhbar.
I am surprised , truly surprised that Al Akhbar Newspaper published this headline considering the fact that Al Akhbar is state-owned newspaper and currently is headed by Islamist leaning editorial team. There is nothing published on the front page except when it is revised by regime representative.
Saturday, 25 May 2013
The mining for minerals in Hala’ib triangle especially gold is part of the dispute between Egypt and Sudan. Actually in late 1970s or early 1980s the dispute surfaced when Sudan signed an agreement with some American or Canadian mining company to mine gold there “despite it is disputed territory and Egypt officially believes that the triangle is considered an Egyptian territory ”
It is just an irony that despite the people there live in extreme poverty , they are surrounded by rich area of minerals above them gold mine
Financial Al Mal Daily newspaper reporter Mohamed Ragab travelled to Hala’ib and filmed there the unofficial/illegal gold mining there. He did not say the exact location but it is between the cities of Hala’ib and Shalateen. The speaker in the video who is wearing the galabiya is not a native if I may say, he seems to be of Upper Egyptian origin.
The people there extract gold from the gold veins found in that mount in the triangle for four years now. Amazingly the deal is as follows a guy comes with gold detector along with workers and a transportation vehicle and in the end the profit is divided by three.
“The government does not interfere” says the Upper Egyptian guy who owns three gold detectors. For 6 months the government aka the army , the intelligence and state security in this area used to stalk those gold diggers but they stopped now. “The best government is in Hala’ib !!” The man said with no regards to the people suffering there.
Surprisingly in the end of that short yet extremely important clip we find out that there is some Gulf mining company digging for gold there.
When it comes to the unofficial gold mining in Egypt , you will be surprised to know that no only some people in Hala’ib mine it unofficially but in other areas as well.
Last month Al Shorouk newspaper reported exclusively that there is illegal gold mining taking place in Qena. Strangely I cannot find the report anymore in Shorouk official newspaper but I found a cached version from the report “Thank God for Google Cache service”
According to the report the people mainly from Bedouin tribes working in illegal gold mining in the one of the mounts in an area called “Wadi El Lakeeta”. When I checked its location in Google maps I found out that it is near to Red Sea governorate. The report says that despite the governor and the government officials are denying to have any knowledge with that mine unlike what it seems.
Amazingly the report says that there are not less than 3,000 families working in gold mining in that area and in fact not less 500 young men work in one location when it comes to mining. There are illegal gold workshops working in the governorate yet the governor denies it !!
You know if I were from those people , I will use the profit from these mines to improve my village and my area as long as the centralized government in Cairo ignores our existence.
It is just an irony that despite the people there live in extreme poverty , they are surrounded by rich area of minerals above them gold mine
Financial Al Mal Daily newspaper reporter Mohamed Ragab travelled to Hala’ib and filmed there the unofficial/illegal gold mining there. He did not say the exact location but it is between the cities of Hala’ib and Shalateen. The speaker in the video who is wearing the galabiya is not a native if I may say, he seems to be of Upper Egyptian origin.
Gold mining in Hala’ib triangle
“The government does not interfere” says the Upper Egyptian guy who owns three gold detectors. For 6 months the government aka the army , the intelligence and state security in this area used to stalk those gold diggers but they stopped now. “The best government is in Hala’ib !!” The man said with no regards to the people suffering there.
Surprisingly in the end of that short yet extremely important clip we find out that there is some Gulf mining company digging for gold there.
When it comes to the unofficial gold mining in Egypt , you will be surprised to know that no only some people in Hala’ib mine it unofficially but in other areas as well.
Last month Al Shorouk newspaper reported exclusively that there is illegal gold mining taking place in Qena. Strangely I cannot find the report anymore in Shorouk official newspaper but I found a cached version from the report “Thank God for Google Cache service”
According to the report the people mainly from Bedouin tribes working in illegal gold mining in the one of the mounts in an area called “Wadi El Lakeeta”. When I checked its location in Google maps I found out that it is near to Red Sea governorate. The report says that despite the governor and the government officials are denying to have any knowledge with that mine unlike what it seems.
Amazingly the report says that there are not less than 3,000 families working in gold mining in that area and in fact not less 500 young men work in one location when it comes to mining. There are illegal gold workshops working in the governorate yet the governor denies it !!
You know if I were from those people , I will use the profit from these mines to improve my village and my area as long as the centralized government in Cairo ignores our existence.
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
The spokesperson of Egyptian cabinet has declared in early morning on Tuesday the names of the new ministers in the ministerial reshuffle. all what I can say from reading the names and their bios that there is more MB blood in the cabinet regardless of experience.
First here are the names of the new ministers :
Darrag made headlines from couple of weeks ago when he spoke on how successful the relations between Egypt and Israel during the era of President Morsi in Washington D.C when he spoke about the Role of the military in future democratic Egypt in the Center for Strategic & International studies.Darrag also made controversy when his Op-ed in English about “The New vision for the Egyptian foreign police after the revolution” was published in The Turkish Economic and social studies foundation and then Ikhwan Web. The man was speaking about a new Egypt where“ where Copts, Jews and atheists live side by side in peace with equal citizenship rights” !!! Here is the complete op-ed.
It is worth to mention that the part about the Jews and atheists was removed in the Arabic translation of that piece published in the MB Arabic websites.
According to Darrag’s new position , he will be responsible for the talks with the IMF
Darrag lost in the parliamentary elections last year in Dokki and Imbaba against independent former MP Amr El Shobky , the professor of political science.
Interesting enough the man responsible for investments now in Egypt graduated from the faculty of Alsun Ain Shams University.
Amazingly now the former regime supporters are accusing Bagateo of accepting the ministerial position in return of his silence in what happened in the presidential elections.
In the end the official Muslim brotherhood share in the cabinet has increased to become 11 ministers with the latest reshuffle.
BY the way despite all the odds and criticisms , Morsi’s administration is insisting on keeping the ministers of interior and information.
First here are the names of the new ministers :
- Judge Ahmed Mohamed Soliman , the new minister of justice.
- Judge Hatem Bagateo , the new minister of parliamentary affairs
- Engineer Sherif Ramadan , the new minister of oil and mineral wealth
- Dr. Ahmed Eissa , the new minister of antiquities
- Dr. Ahmed El Gizaway , the new minister of agriculture
- Dr. Fiyad Abdel Monem , the new minister of finance
- Dr. Ahmed Amr Darrag , the new minister of international cooperation.
- Dr. Alaa Abdel Aziz , the new minister of culture
- Yahia Hamad , the new minister of investment.
- Minister Ahmed Amr Darrag of international cooperation : This is the most import MB name in the list. Leading MB member Amr Darrag is the head of the foreign affairs committee in Freedom and Justice Party.
Darrag made headlines from couple of weeks ago when he spoke on how successful the relations between Egypt and Israel during the era of President Morsi in Washington D.C when he spoke about the Role of the military in future democratic Egypt in the Center for Strategic & International studies.Darrag also made controversy when his Op-ed in English about “The New vision for the Egyptian foreign police after the revolution” was published in The Turkish Economic and social studies foundation and then Ikhwan Web. The man was speaking about a new Egypt where“ where Copts, Jews and atheists live side by side in peace with equal citizenship rights” !!! Here is the complete op-ed.
It is worth to mention that the part about the Jews and atheists was removed in the Arabic translation of that piece published in the MB Arabic websites.
According to Darrag’s new position , he will be responsible for the talks with the IMF
Darrag lost in the parliamentary elections last year in Dokki and Imbaba against independent former MP Amr El Shobky , the professor of political science.
- Minister Yahia Hamed of investment : The former Vodafone marketing executive is allegedly form Khairat El Shater’s men.
Interesting enough the man responsible for investments now in Egypt graduated from the faculty of Alsun Ain Shams University.
- Minister Fiyad Abdel Moneim of finance : This man will be from the team that will deal with the IMF.
- Minister Ahmed El Gizawy of Agriculture : The new minister of agriculture is the head of the agricultural committee in Freedom and Justice Party. El Gizawy is officially the third MB member in this reshuffle
- Minister Ahmed Soliman of Justice : The new minister of justice is well known to have strong relations to both the Muslim brotherhood and Al Gama’a Al Islamiyaa.
- Minister Hatem Bagateo of parliamentary affairs : The new minister of parliamentary affairs is a very familiar face. Bagateo was a former aide to minister of justice Mamdouh Maree after the revolution. He is the vice-president of the supreme constitutional court.
Tamer Bagateo was from the aides of former minister of justice Mamdouh Maree who was used by SCAF to tailor laws after the revolution according to informed judicial source. Saad Abdou , the former MP and leading member in Al Karma Party said that SCAF depended on judges from the former regime to tailor the laws rejected by national powers including Farouk Sultan “The head of the elections committee” who was appointed by Mubarak himself in the Supreme constitution court and judge Hatem Bagateo , the former ministry of justice's undersecretaryIn no time as usual the devoted MB members are adopting the change of views towards Bagateo defending how he was chosen in the cabinet. It is disgusting to see how they are using religion in this.
Amazingly now the former regime supporters are accusing Bagateo of accepting the ministerial position in return of his silence in what happened in the presidential elections.
- Minister Sherif Hassan Ramadan of Oil : Another MB figure. The 60 years old CEO of Ruhrpumpen was appointed from 7 months ago as the Chairman of the Oil authority in Egypt. I believe he is another close figure to the MB.
- Minister Alaa Abdel Aziz of Culture : We did not know much about him except that the 1962 born new minister of culture is a film critic and a professor in the Cinema institute.
- Minister Ahmed Eissa of antiquities : Some sources say that he is a member in Al Wasat Party.The 53 years old professor of Islamic and Coptic antiquities in South Valley University. Eissa was the Dean of the faculty of antiquities in the South Valley University
In the end the official Muslim brotherhood share in the cabinet has increased to become 11 ministers with the latest reshuffle.
BY the way despite all the odds and criticisms , Morsi’s administration is insisting on keeping the ministers of interior and information.
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Ahram Online made this interesting video about a workshop in Marsa Allam about Solar heaters. Ice Cairo and Karm Solar participated in that workshop.
The video has got English subtitles by the way I think these solar heaters should spread in rural areas in Egypt that suffer from infra structure problem for decades and centuries. I see that solution will benefit millions of Egyptians in poor and rural areas before the middle and high class areas.
Forget about the government , these initiatives should be spread by NGOs in the country side especially in Upper Egypt. Let's use God's gift to Egypt from sun for real.
Amazingly whenever you get away from Cairo , you will find hope and people thinking outside the box.
Friday, 26 April 2013
I love the infographic prepared by UNICEF in Egypt and published in its official FB page in both Arabic and English. They are simple and with accurate numbers from the UNICEF. I wish that the Egyptian government would learn from these infographics. Now today the page published a very interesting info-graph about unemployment in Egypt.I thought of sharing it with you.
I will not comment , I will leave you with the infographic with all the detail. Click on it to zoom in .
I will not comment , I will leave you with the infographic with all the detail. Click on it to zoom in .
 |
| Unemployment in Egypt |
Thursday, 25 April 2013
Today Egypt is celebrating Sinai day. For those who do not know what is , it commemorates the withdrawal of Israeli troops in 1982 from Sinai Peninsula except from Taba. After 31 years ago I have to ask two important questions today especially with all the debates around Sinai recently
Who killed our soldiers in Sinai ??
Yes whenever I hear the word “Sinai” now I always remember how our soldiers were brutally murdered in cold blood last August 2012 and I remember how on earth months passed and we did not know the truth behind their murder. It is not an easy violent terrorist attack , it had shaken the society and I even remember how some compared it with the bitterness of 1967 defeat.
President Morsi , the army and the intelligence should be frank and honest to tell us the truth. The army commandership should respect the blood of those soldiers as well their families and tell us the truth.
Of course in the past few months wild conspiracy theories and claims about how Hamas directly standing behind their murders were taking Egypt’s mainstream and social media by storm. For several weeks in March 2013 Ahram Al Arabi published a series of reports by names of Hamas leaders claiming that they are responsible personally for the attack. Hamas of course denied those allegations completely.
Naturally when you bring Hamas in such debate you bring with it ; its mother movement the Muslim brotherhood is dragged and it is not a secret that many people are convinced now that the president Morsi and the MB stood behind the attack themselves. According to that theory Morsi and the MB wanted to get rid from SCAF and they did. They say that GIS presented a full report to Morsi about the attack a week before it took place and that he did not take any step regarding it. Of course one must wonder why the GIS did not warn the army about it.
The info or let’s just say that the leaks I heard from sources “supposedly to be trusted” say that Hamas did not do it and kill our soldiers but they do know those who stand behind their murder and they refuse to hand them over to Cairo.
The army announced some military operation called “Eagle” if you remember. Till this moment we do not its progress and actually all the indications in Sinai. From what I see the terrorists and the Jihadists have not been stopped at all.
I believe again if the GIS or the army knows any information about that attack both of them should share it with the people of Egypt because it is their duty in front of the people and the country. I think that age of keeping the things in secret so the president is not embarrassed is over not to mention they do not love the president or his group.
Of course one would dream to have a real constitution and a real parliament that would bring both the minister of defense and the head of the intelligence and ask them about what happened to our soldiers in a public hearing like the congressional hearings we saw about Iraq and Afghanistan.
Well I keep dreaming this and I wish to see it before I die !!
After 31 years What did we do in Sinai ??
Today hundreds if not thousands of Egyptians shared the photos of Yamit settlement and how its Israeli settlers were kicked out of Sinai from 31 years ago. Those who witnessed the event on TV remembered the scenes of Israeli forces pulling away the settlers from the agricultural settlement.
Now after 31 years I would like to say that unfortunately after seeing the photos of Yamit , I wonder where the urban development from in North and Middle Sinai !!
Why did we fail to have settlements like Yamit in the past 31 years !? For 31 years we have failed in securing Sinai for real. In 3 decades the people of Sinai are completely ignored by the centralized government in Egypt with jobs or education or even respect. In 3 decades Sinai became a hot zone for human and drug smuggling and trafficking. In the past decades Sinai saw a growing terrorist spots and now we got Jihadists in the past 3 years roaming freely.
Of course the biggest blame here is on the Mubarak regime in that failure leaving Sinai without no real urban development plans all those years. The only thing related to development in Sinai in those 30 years was the tourism development in the South that actually is not enough. Sinai is empty land and it should not be so for too long.
I do not believe that Camp David treaty is the true reason as much as the lack of political will whether in time of Mubarak or in time of Morsi.
Speaking about Morsi , well it seems that Sinai is going to complete its suffering under the MB rule. Actually our national security in Sinai is being threatened by the MB’s own definition of National security and their regional and international policies.
The MB does not recognize the meaning of borders as the brotherhood believes in the caliphate , they believe that Egypt and Gaza are one part of global Caliphate.I do not think that they will think in the same way like we do if the scenario of resettling the Palestinian refugees in Sinai was suggested by the States and Israel as a permanent solution. After all Sinai is regarded an empty land in their eyes , a wasteland !!
By the way you must know that it was true that the MB and Morsi were approving to sell large pieces of land in Sinai to Qatari and Turkish investors , the thing that the army stood against. The ministry of defense issued a controversial law to ban the sell of land in Sinai to foreigners from couple of months ago. According to the law the ministry of defense and the intelligence should approve on the lease of land to foreigners and purchase of land in the Peninsula.
Of course the law made the locals extremely angry in Sinai because it banned the ownership and purchase of land on the borders and the area near to the borders.
This is the first law to be issued without the revision of the Shura council or the approval of the president. It was one of the milestones of the complicated relations between the army and the MB.
In the end Sinai will be always in danger as long as it is neglected , as long as its people are treated as second degree citizens and as long as the only development we think of when we speak about Sinai is the tourism development.
Friday, 5 April 2013
This is extremely important. El Badil Newspaper made an extremely important and sad video report about the terrible status of Serabit El Khadim ancient Egyptian temple, the only surviving ancient Egyptian temple in Sinai.
The disaster of Serabit El Kadim
Monica Hanna and Alfred Raouf as well the locals in the area speak about happened to that important temple.
Thanks for corruption and wrong restoration works the temple is in extremely bad shape in way that threatens its existence after all those years. I do not know if it is deliberate action or not but from Strategic point of view this is extremely important temple in this particular relation.
From economic point of view this temple used to be a source of income for many of the locals working in tourism and waiting for tourists to visit it.
By the way thanks to Monica and the noise we made online ,the authorities began to move to do something regarding Dahshur yet in a very slow reaction that is not enough by all measures.
I really want to thank Monica because without her we would not know what is happening to our heritage for real. At least we are speaking and making noise to the whole world.
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Our ambassador in the US Mohamed Tawfik spoke today in an event in Boston about Egypt, Morsi, Bassem Youssef, Muslim brotherhood , revolution and economy. The event was organized by World Boston.
Dear Nasser Wedday attended that meeting and shared with us on twitter what our ambassador said. I complied Wedday’s tweets in a storify post which you can read after the break.
By the way dear Nasser Wedday is nominated in the BOBs 2013’s best Arabic Tweeps and he deserves your support
Back to our ambassador , well you must know something the ambassador of Egypt in the United States used to be one of the most important players in Egyptian diplomacy before the revolution. Of course now things are different because the MB got their envoys and ambassadors to the State. Already I do believe that there are MB officials coming and going to D.C without the knowledge of Tawfik.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
