Under Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptians often complained of poor economic conditions. But after the Muslim Brotherhood took power, on the backs of the youths of the revolution and social media activists, the economy became only worse. The Egyptians complained of chronic traffic jams, but these only got worse in turn. The Egyptians never complained about security, and now there are hundreds of complaints each day. Now, it seems that the judiciary's turn in this cycle has come. Egypt's judges have fought many battles with the Mubarak regime, and today, they are fighting a battle with the Muslim Brotherhood. I had written in this column when Mubarak was still in power that the regime, any regime, cannot tell the judges that they are wrong because it is their job to decide what is right and what is wrong, or what is legal or not. President Mohamed Morsi discussed the crisis of the judiciary with the Supreme Judicial Council, in the presence of Attorney General Ibrahim Abdullah, although he is part of the crisis. Indeed, he had been chosen by the regime based on loyalty rather than competence, in breach of the law as the Supreme Judicial Council itself had ruled. The president is also using the Shura Council, where the Brotherhood commands a majority, against the judiciary. This is despite the fact that the judiciary had declared the Shura Council unconstitutional and recommended its dissolution, with a judicial hearing on the subject set for the 12th of May. The reason the Brotherhood is seeking to undermine the judiciary is clear: President Morsi hardly issues a decision that the judges do not deem illegal, sometimes on the following day. There are parliamentary elections soon, and the president does not want the judiciary to rule once again that the parliament elected to suit the Brotherhood is illegitimate. But the economy remains the most important issue. I read some horrific statements attributed to officials at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) two weeks after the meetings in Cairo over a $4.8 billion loan to Egypt from the IMF. In short, IMF sources claimed that public sector salaries in the next budget, which would remain in effect until June 30, 2014, increased by 80 percent since 2011. The regime in Egypt, whether under Mubarak or the Brotherhood, has been unable to pay the salaries since 2011, so how will it finance a raise that will be almost equivalent to the overdue salaries? In addition to the IMF loan, which I believe will only make the economic crisis worse given the conditions it imposes on the Egyptian government, we read that Qatar and Libya pledged to give $5 billion to Egypt. Not all the money will be a grant, and will include loans or term deposits. Turkey also pledged to wire one or two billion dollars to Egypt, a promise that Turkey has since fulfilled. And of course, there is U.S. aid, or bribe, meant to keep Egypt committed to the peace treaty with Israel. Is it Egypt's destiny to live at the expense of ‘philanthropists'? Who can guarantee that donor countries would continue to transfer billions of dollars over to Egypt? Libya and Qatar are not acting out of their special interests as the U.S. does, but they nonetheless cannot aid Egypt forever. Gone is the day when needy Arabs went to Egypt for help, as now Egypt needs to be helped itself. The situation is painful, but I will pause to share with the readers a related anecdote. I sat once, along with a group of officials and friends, with former President Hosni Mubarak at a private meeting on the sidelines of a conference on democracy and reform at the Library of Alexandria. Mubarak told us that a Turkish prime minister (I can no longer recall his name) visited him, and during their conversation, the Turkish guest complained that public sector employees in his country numbered around 600 thousand. The Turkish prime minister wondered how he could draft a budget at all and rule a country with this many government employees. Mubarak told us that he remained silent, but that the Turkish prime minister soon asked him: How many public sector employees do you have? Mubarak told us that he did not want to ‘shock' his guest, and say that they numbered around six million, so he just told the Turk: Something like that – that is, around 600 thousand like in Turkey. I repeat that the situation is painful but I will stop so as not to add to the reader's woes. I will instead look for that mythical needle in the haystack, and say that freedoms improved after the revolution, and the media can now say whatever they want. However, I read every day statements by Muslim Brotherhood leaders attacking stars and threatening the media, pledging to make them pay the price of their “arrogance." I know that one goal of subduing or undermining the judiciary is to crack down on the media along with it. Perhaps the reader is better than I am in finding a needle in a haystack, so I hope to hear his opinion. [email protected]
