“What do we need to do to have a better Egypt?” |
May 4th stirs debate among AUCians
Despite police preparations for a possible strike on May 4, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s 80th birthday, the streets of Cairo were as crowded as usual and no so-called irregular activity took place. Banners were hung in nearby Tahrir square warning that, “youths should build and not destroy”.
The calm occured in part because on May 1, Mubarak announced a 30 percent raise for government and private sector employees. But this raise has since come hand in hand with a price increase for cigarettes, gasoline--- which went up 46 percent alone—-and the removal of tax breaks for private education tuition and heavy industry.
The call for the strike was an attempt to repeat the April 6 protests against rising food prices, which resulted in the arrest of more than 200 demonstrators.
1. Why do you think there was no strike on May 4?
2. What do you think of Mubarak’s economic decisions?
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1- “The regime was very successful in terrorizing political activists the second time. After the arrests on April 6, people were worried that they would add insult to injury. Lots of the political parties abstained because they wanted to increase their [colleagues] chances of being released from prison. National security did their job.
2- Everything that Mubarak does in public is for show, to advocate a certain political message, which is: I will silence you for now. Today proved that it’s for show because of the increase in gas prices.
[The banner is the] perfect example to build up support against political opposition.”
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1- “I think it didn’t happen because people don’t feel like jeopardizing their
careers and lives by demonstating. They don’t wholeheartedly give support. People constantly complain, but then again [people don’t care enough about the cause to jeopridize their career] and so nothing will ever change.
2- I think it’s counter productive. To improve people’s standard of living in a real wage situation, you can’t give people a nominally larger income to spend on fewer goods: it doesn’t do anybody any good.”
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1-“Maybe it’s related to the increase of 30% that the president announced that made April 6 not work really well, I expected more people to show up because the Muslim Brotherhood gave its support. I think it’s mainly because of the 30%.
2-This is what he should have done many years ago. It doesn’t make sense that gas is subsidized. They should implement it; he will remove subsidies and increase taxes for the rich people.”
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| Amira Khalil Actuarial Science Junior |
1- The April 6 strike was successful in that people didn’t leave their houses and didn’t buy anything. This strike wasn’t taken seriously by a lot of people, because it was just done to anger the government on Mubarak’s birthday.
2- First of all, he increased income by 30%, and then cancelled subsidies on goods, which forces prices to increase dramatically. This not only brings the situation [back] to what it was before, but it makes it worse because the prices increased more than 30%, which makes the problem bigger that it used to be.”
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1- “I think the government policy---raising salaries and adding subsidies to food--- didn’t allow opposition to mobilize. [The banner shows that the] government dealt differently with the call for the strike this time, using tactics like banners and greater mobilization of NDP members, to assure the public [of stability]. The security forces acted different, they were there but not much; April 6 looked like a state of emergency. [Mubarak’s policies were] assuring the public that tension was not going to take place [so] people are more willing to leave [their homes]. Government policy was effective to demobilize the public.
2-I think that they were quite rational decisions because you have to fund the government employees’ salary increase [and] somebody else from a different strata [has to pay for it]. Reducing subsidies on gas and removing tax exemptions are rational decisions to redistribute [wealth] from the well-to-do to the poor.”