Referendum on Article 76

The "historical" speech on the 26th of February 2005, opening up the window of opportunity for direct multicandidate Presidential elections and the now infamous referendum on the amendment of article 76 in the constitution represents the high and low of the double election year 2005 so far. while constitutional change is one of the prerequisites for political change towards a more democratic Egypt. The amendment of article 76 has proven to be the opposite. In a state of the art Mubarakesque show, the amendment has been superbly written, full of democratic rhetoric and emptied of democratic context. An excellent piece of craft written by the most brilliant legal minds , the NDP has to offer. Once again filling the gaps of the unknown potential of democracy with as many caveats as possible. Making the potential favourite past time of the Egyptian political opposition and inteligentsia of scanning for presidential wannabies, a game of looking for a needle in a haystack.

The outcome of the referendum was a foregone conclusion in terms of numbers and is only interesting in the context of other referundums in the past and probably in the future, to gauge the political apathy of the Egyptian people, and the casual way of the Mubarak government in dealing with such a highly important question.

The significance of the day of the referendum on the 25th of May is yet to be decided. The way the regime opted to crush down on two small demonstrations is not. The projected image of Egypt as a country on the way towards democratization was dealt a blow in international political circles last wednesday. For the Egyptian People, the reality of Egypt´s stalled society and the democratic facade has been there for to long - kifayya

Sharq al Awsat launches it´s English site

One of the flagships of Arab daily newspapers, the Saudibacked and London based ash Sharq al Awsat has launched it´s first issue today. Among several interesting articles , Mahmoun Fandy writes about 10 problems of the Arabs and Mona Telhawy about the Newsweek/Guantanámo story.

Hot & Not

Hot
1/Judges Clubs in Alex and Cairo - for their ethics
2/Essam al Eryan, for his guts
3/Kifayya - for their rhymes
4/Safwat Sherif - For his somewhat poetic comment about the democratic spring flower, just after the Shura Council voted for the ammendment of Art 76

Not
1/Shaában Abd al Rahim - Political correctness does not become YOU
2/Ahmad Nazif - For his visit to Washington , giving us the simple honest answers about democratization and torture.
3/Nu´man Gouma - for not being able to set his personal vendeta aside, for a higher, and more urgent cause
4/Goumlukiyyas - as Siyyasa remember ?

Fustat

This blog is a about the most beutifull city in the world , the victorious al Qahira, Heliopolis, Memphis. City of the Nile, Ibn Toulon, Saad Zagloul, Ahmed Shawqi and Mido. It´s above all about the people and the energy that the city creates. Sharia Soliman Pasha/26 Yulio, Shoubra wa Banat Shoubra, Triumph, Feysal, Marg and Shoubra al Kheimah, as Sitt Qawkab al Sharq, Shaában Abd al Rahim who loves everybody, including Rafiq and al Raís. Salah ad Din, Bonaparte, and Ramses II, Nasser they all lived and walked in the proximity of this marvelous city, and was being watched by Aboulhoul.