Bill Clinton won the U.S. presidential election in 1992 running with the slogan “It's the economy, stupid." Indeed, he had managed to convince a majority of Americans that the U.S. economy, which George Bush Sr. had inherited from Ronald Reagan (like Barack Obama inherited it from George W. Bush), was facing a severe crisis that only he could address. I find that this originally American slogan is more accurate in describing the situation in Egypt than in America. Indeed, 2012 was an economically difficult year for Egypt, and this year will be even worse because the new regime has no solutions to rescue the economy. A cabinet reshuffle is not a real solution, especially since the number of Muslim Brotherhood ministers increased even though they have no economic experience to speak of. The solution must be to alter the economic policy. The numbers, which do not lie, tell us that 40 percent of Egyptians live below the poverty line, that is to say, their income per capita is less than $2 per day. This is while the budget deficit has soared to $21.6 billion. The Muslim Brotherhood had first refused a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under Kamal Ganzouri's government, but then sought one when they took power. The negotiations for the loan have stalled and face obstacles, and the loan would require further austerity measures in an already very austere country. Meanwhile, there is a shortage in fuel for power stations, which means darkness this winter and an even worse summer. The cement companies threatened the government after diesel prices were raised, and the Egyptian pound has hit record lows against the dollar, all in parallel with a rise in homicide, rape and thefts. Yet, President Mohamed Morsi overlooked all the above, and promised in a speech on the 26th of December, that the coming days will witness the launch of new projects. What are these projects? Where will they be implemented? Where will the funding come from? The Mortgage Finance Fund spoke about five thousand apartments in 12 new cities designed for people with low-income. But I say that people with low-income need more than 500 thousand apartments, if not a million. This is required both before the downgrade of Egypt's credit rating and after. President Morsi, in his last speech on the 29th of December, said: We support free media away from control by the authorities, interest groups and corrupt funding. But not two days later, the President's office took legal action against Bassem Youssef and his satirical TV show “El Bernameg", on counts of spreading false news that threaten national peace, public security and the work of the government. Economic problems cannot be solved by distracting people away from them through a fomented confrontation with the local media, which reports on the severe economic crisis it sees, and which I addressed in part in the paragraphs above citing confirmed information without expressing any personal opinions. The economic problems cannot be solved either with the new regime locked in an ongoing battle with the judiciary, rather than focusing on what is more important. Islamist protesters besieged the headquarters of the Supreme Constitutional Court on 2/12/2012, and prevented it from functioning. The judges went on strike, and they will return to work on the 15th of this month to look into complaints about the unconstitutionality of the Shura Council election law, and the unconstitutionality of the criteria for the selection of the members of the Constituent Assembly entrusted with drafting the constitution. Meanwhile, disputes have resurfaced between the Public Prosecutor Talaat Abdullah with his subordinate prosecutors who do not want him in the post and who went on strike to demand his sacking. In the meantime, there has been no reconciliation with the opposition and no dialogue, while the economy grew by only 2.6 percent. Compare this to the figures associated with the government of Ahmed Nazif, in the first decade of this century, when growth was at 8 percent per year, and 4.5 percent year during the year of the global financial crisis in 2008. People, resist the corruption and not the economy. All the above is well-documented information. But I want to conclude with a brief opinion, namely that Egypt's economic problems cannot be resolved by fomenting battles with the media and the judiciary, by a cabinet reshuffle, or by relying on a testimony from Habib al-Adli about Hosni Mubarak's role in cracking down on the demonstrations against him. They also cannot be resolved by denying their existence. Indeed, I have noticed that the members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood place their allegiance to the group above that to Egypt, and believe that all those who criticize the regime's performance are enemies not concerned voiced that want to give advice. So I say to them in a language that they understand that God does not change the condition of people until they change what is in themselves. [...] [email protected]
