Op-ed: My ‘neo power marriage’
BY ETHAR El-KATATNEY I got married yesterday. It was kind of a big deal. You know, worrying about my dress and my shoes and my makeup and this lifetime commitment and things along those lines. Oh, and also if the President was going to make it, or if he was planning on canceling, and if I was going to be called a traitorous, lying, power-hungry, conniving rhymes-with-witch by the internet trolls. All in a day’s worth. As a journalist, it shames me to see the kind of shoddy journalism and sensationalist tabloid trash that’s been swirling around the country ever since…
Turning point in Egypt’s militarization
BY SARAH EL SIRGANY Cairo: President Mohamed Morsi’s decisions to force the retirement of Minister of Defense Hussein Tantawi and assume powers once awarded to the military, are a turning point in Egypt’s decades-long legacy of state militarization and a defining feature in the Muslim Brotherhood’s future relationship with the generals. Two hours before iftar on Sunday, Morsi ordered the retirement of Tantawi and the Armed Forces Chief of Staff Sami Anan and canceled an addendum to the interim constitution issued by the military in June, days before Morsi was elected president, in what was seen as a preemptive move…
Proposed ministers reflect ‘continuity’
BY SARAH EL SIRGANY Cairo: The preliminary list of new cabinet of ministers show continuity more than reform and is disappointing, observers said. “The government reflects more continuity, rather than change,” said Omar Ashour, director of the Middle East Studies at Exeter University. At least four ministers from the previous cabinet will remain under the leadership of the recently appointed premier Hesham Qandil, according to a list published by the official news agency MENA. These include Momtaz El-Saeid in finance and Mohamed Kamel Amr, minister of foreign affairs. These top or “sovereign” ministries were expected to be issues of contention…
Compromise and the revolution
BY NOUR BAKR At its height, the defining mantra of Egypt’s tumultuous uprising was the famous cry “the people want the fall of the regime.” That the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), along with many remnants of the Mubarak era remain key players in the country’s politics is widely held as proof that the revolution ultimately failed. Whilst partially true, the electoral successes of the Muslim Brotherhood do not, as many have argued, completely betray the ultimate aim of the uprising. Rather the successive victories of Mohamed Morsi and the FJP signify the triumph of a compromise on…
Admin Court says no jurisdiction
Cairo: The Administrative Court referred Thursday the case against the addendum to the constitutional decree to the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC). The court said it has no jurisdiction to rule in the case. In the explanation of the verdict, published by official news portal egynews.net, the judge said the military council had the right to issue the addendum and was not obliged to subject it to a public referendum as the appeals requested. One of the articles being contested gives the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces the authority to appoint a new Constituent Assembly. A case challenging the formation…
A counter-revolution coalition
BY HEBA HESHAM Cairo: In Egypt, a dictator was toppled and a civilian president was elected, but that’s not to say that the forces working relentlessly to sabotage the so-called transitional period are abating. Facts are misleadingly mixed with conspiracy theories to vilify the revolution and its supporters, while preserving the interests of the network of the the old regime and new players who want their share of the cake.Yet, observers can’t seem to agree on who exactly these forces are, some saying that the counter-revolution might not be solely orchestrated by remnants of the ousted regime. Many say that…
Egypt’s fragmented politics
BY NATE WRIGHT As a news journalist in Cairo, I have written my fair share of leads over the last year which feature an Egypt “plunging” in and out of crisis or its leaders “squaring up” for another decisive “showdown.” It has been a year of dramatic headlines and extraordinary confusion, as time and again the country’s major players have tried to launch themselves into power, only to find that the platform they were aiming at has shifted beneath them. This was my first post-revolution transition to witness up close — if I can still be permitted to suggest that,…
Against Dictatorship 2.0
BY AMRO ALI Subtlety is not a strong feature of the Egyptian landscape, whether you look at its overt religious piety, emphasis on a person’s title, the fragrance generously sprayed that heralds a person’s arrival from 15 meters away, the imposing pyramids, or Judge Farouk Sultan’s protracted defense of the “divinely-sanctioned” electoral commission before he could get around to just announcing the presidential winner. Yet the least subtle of any Egyptian agency has to be the league of “extraordinary” gentlemen — the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). In seizing all branches of government, ripping up the constitution and…
Editorial: Battle for the constitution
BY RANIA AL MALKY Cairo: Today is a very happy day in the history of Egypt. Those who elected Morsi are happy because he won, and those who elected Shafik are happy because he won; and those who boycotted are happy because Tantawi tricked them both. Those who hate Mubarak are happy because he’s dead and those who love him are happy because he’s still alive. God bless Egyptian hashish. So went the joke, which in a few words summed up the level of chaos, polarization and disinformation suffocating Egyptians today, less than 24 hours before the Presidential Election Committee…
MB flaunts confrontation chip
BY SARAH EL SIRGANY Cairo: Less than a day before a new president is named, the politically conservative Muslim Brotherhood finds itself at the forefront of a major battle. Having lost parliament and possibly the presidential seat, the group has been forced to defend its gains using tactics that go beyond its usual deal-making and incremental reform approach. In a turbulent week fraught with rumored doomsday scenarios the Brotherhood saw the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) dissolve a parliament led by its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party. Its near win…
