Egypt - Ed Webb on Diigo

May

29

2012

Alexandria bucks national trends and Islamist reputation | Egypt Independent

www.egyptindependent.com/...trends-and-islamist-reputation

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Egypt Alexandria Salafists elections presidentialelections

Behind Sabbahi, Abdel Moniem Abouel Fotouh, a moderate Islamist independent candidate followed with 387,497, or 22 percent, of the votes, while former foreign minister Amr Moussa won 291,000 votes in third place, followed by Mohamed Morsy, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate with 269,455. Ahmed Shafiq, former prime minister under Mubarak, who is leading the poll nationally, only won 212,275 votes in Egypt’s second largest city.
It was clear by now that people had lost trust and hope in both the ultraconservative Salafi Nour Party, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party
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- “Now, the split within the Salafis has been apparent these days, there are some who want to leave the political scene and go back to preaching and their religious roots, which was their main concern before,”

Stories from Cairo: What I learned today (8): reporting can be dangerous

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Egypt reporters journalists thugs

May

25

2012

Egyptian Elections: There Is No Clear Frontrunner in a Crowded Field - The Daily Beast

www.thedailybeast.com/...runner-in-a-crowded-field.html

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Egypt elections presidentialelections opinion analysis

May

24

2012

Brotherhood Faces Both Ways as Egypt Votes for President « A Sense of Belonging

asenseofbelonging.org/...s-as-egypt-votes-for-president

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Egypt religion politics ikhwan MB conversion Copts minorities Christians apostasy

May

22

2012

Mustafa's Space Drive: An Egyptian Student's Quantum Physics Invention | Fast Company

RT @rohininworld: 19 year old Egyptian girl changing up space exploration, whattt! Awesome! http://t.co/9xAXfuCp

www.fastcompany.com/...ents-quantum-physics-invention

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twitter physics space quantum Egypt

May

21

2012

The Egyptian Republic of Retired Generals - By Zeinab Abul-Magd | The Middle East Channel

mideast.foreignpolicy.com/...n_republic_of_retired_generals

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Egypt military army economy elections presidency presidentialelections

Will any civilian winner be able to demilitarize the Egyptian state?
the discourse of presidential candidates avoids even acknowledging this situation, much less making a case for demilitarizing the state.
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- As Mubarak was grooming his son, Gamal, for presidency, he tried to ensure the loyalty of the military and stave off potential dissent by hiring military officers for economic and bureaucratic positions. The last 14 months, since the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) assumed power following Mubarak's departure, has seen a rapid increase in the number of officers in the civilian positions.
- Sadat promulgated Law Number 47 of 1978 in order to end Nasser's legacy and reduce military presence in the cabinet, and Mubarak used the same law to bring them back
- Pensions are typically low, the equivalent of monthly salaries without the extra allowances they enjoy while in service. These salaries are only somewhere between $400 and $500. In February 2011, five days after the end of the uprisings and the dissolution of Mubarak's parliament, the SCAF used their vague authority to amend this retirement law and introduce a 15 percent raise in pensions. But this is still not enough to cover increasing cost of living expenses in Egypt. Thus, the leadership offers officers civilian jobs with considerable salaries to supplement their unsatisfying pensions.
- In order to keep the hierarchical structure of the Egyptian military, the institution dismisses a significant number of officers at the ranks of Colonel and Brigadier General in their early 40s. It promotes only a small number into the ranks of Major General, Lieutenant General, and Chief of Staff, who in turn usually retire in their early 50s. The relatively young age at which officers leave service provides a perfect excuse for the military to place them at civilian jobs, lest they use their professional training in activities harmful to national security
- In order to keep a civilian face for the state in Cairo, only a few officers are hired as ministers, such as the minister of provincial development and the minister of information, running state-owned media. Outside the cabinet, they prefer certain spots where influence and wealth are concentrated. In the north and the south, 18 out of the 27 province governors are retired army generals. This includes key locations, such as touristic provinces in Upper Egypt, all the Suez Canal provinces, two Sinai provinces, sometimes Alexandria, and major Delta areas. Additionally, they serve as governors' chiefs-of-staff, directors of small towns, and heads of both wealthy and poor highly populated districts in Cairo.
- The head of the Supreme Constitutional Court now was originally an army officer who previously served as a judge in military courts. This judge, Faruq Sultan, also currently serves as the head of the Supreme Presidential Elections Commission. Ironically, retired officers even dominate in government bodies dedicated to oversight: The head of the Organization of Administrative Monitoring is a retired general and its offices across the nation are staffed with army personnel.
- There are three major military bodies engaged in civilian production: the Ministry of Military Production, running eight factories; the Arab Organization for Industrialization, running 12 factories; and the National Service Products Organization, running 15 factories, companies, and farms. They produce a wide variety of goods, including luxury jeeps, infant incubators, butane gas cylinders, plastic tubes, canned food, meat, chicken, and more. They also provide services, like domestic cleaning and gas station management.
- Civilians working under retired army personnel show continuous discontent about mismanagement, corruption, and injustice.
- Labor strikes are primarily harming the military economic interests rather than the national economy.
- "The military produces the best managers," Wuhiba said
- Loyalty raises them into higher ranks within the army and then prestigious civilian positions afterward. Whereas under Nasser military managers adopted the socialist ideology, today they embrace neither socialist nor neo-liberal politics -- they are neutral. Their leaders in camps train them as young officers to maintain political neutrality and ensure that they uphold only one ideology: Egyptian nationalism. The majority are just individuals seeking to maximize their personal benefits later in life.
- an elected president will certainly fail to demilitarize, and nothing will change.