Democracy and disaster
The prickly question of succession and the deadly crash of a plane belonging to an Egyptian charter company dominated Egypt's headlines this week, writes Gamal Nkrumah
The year began with a welcome revelation -- as pronounced by the pundits at least. President Hosni Mubarak dismissed outright reports that his son Gamal might succeed him. "Any talk of succession is nonsense," Mubarak was reported as saying. He was emphatic. "The regime in Egypt is republican; there is no hereditary transfer of power. This will not happen in Egypt."
The message went out loud and clear. Mubarak's rejection of the idea that his son would succeed him as president generated much interest in the Egyptian press this week. Mubarak was categorical in a radio interview broadcast on New Year's Day that the republican system of government in Egypt ruled out a succession of that nature.
"In decisively firm and unminced words, President Mubarak has removed all doubts about the inheritance of power in Egypt, saying the idea had never even crossed his mind," wrote Salama Ahmed Salama in Al-Ahram. "The president's words have thus put an end to speculation on the issue both at home and abroad," Salama stressed.
Speculation about a successor was rife in Egypt, especially after the president fell ill during a televised address to the National Assembly in November. Mubarak has held the highest office in the land since the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981.
Commentators unanimously agreed that Mubarak had conclusively silenced the critics. Now, Egyptians realise that whatever road Egypt is on, it must pass through democratic transition. "My son will not be the next president," ran a Sawt Al-Umma headline quoting Mubarak. "The end of the myth of hereditary succession in Egypt," the paper trumpeted.
One paper though, Al-Osbou, pointed out that Mubarak's rejection of hereditary succession is nothing new. "We disagree on a number of issues regarding the policies of President Mubarak. We have made that crystal clear on several occasions. But Al-Osbou has always declined to circulate rumours. We knew all along the president's position on the subject of hereditary rule. We knew that he was not about to change his mind on the subject," wrote Mustafa Bakri, the editor-in-chief of Al-Osbou in his column which this week was entitled, "Hereditary Rule: Is the Issue Resolved?" Bakri criticised the rumour-mongers for their unscrupulous behaviour, warning that their machinations will not serve any useful purpose.
"I feel that the president has his finger on the pulse of the Egyptian people. He correctly reads the popular mood, shares the hopes and aspirations of the Egyptian masses, shares with them their anguish and suffering and rejoices in their happiness," wrote Galal Deweidar, editor-in-chief of the daily Al-Akhbar.
Egyptian papers also spotlighted the crash of an aircraft operated by the Egyptian charter company Flash Airlines off Sharm El- Sheikh, one of Egypt's leading seaside resorts located at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The plane crashed in the shark- infested Naima Bay in the Red Sea, shortly after take-off, killing all 148 passengers and crew aboard.
Papers highlighted the human aspect of the tragedy. The Boeing 737 was carrying mostly French tourists returning home after enjoying a Christmas and New Year break in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Preliminary reports suggested the crash was caused by technical failure.
Al-Wafd, too, dedicated several pages to the Sharm El-Sheikh air disaster. The tragedy was the lead story in several issues of the paper this week. "Sixty bodies found... the largest being the size of a fist," blasted one of Al-Wafd's gruesome front-page headlines. The paper devoted several inside pages to commentary, coverage and reports of the disaster.
"Why do plane crashes affect the whole world more than car accidents even though the annual death toll on the road is far higher," asked Samir Ragab, editor-in-chief of Al-Gomhouriya.
The Sharm El-Sheikh crash was France's worst ever air disaster in terms of nationals killed. The paper quoted French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien as saying that France ruled out any act of terrorism. De Robien said France had carried out three inspections on Flash Airlines. The first had revealed a minor problem concerning the signal of an exit door, the French minister conceded, but subsequent checks gave the company's planes a clean bill of health. " [The French] civil aviation authorities gave permission for the aircraft to fly," De Robien was quoted as saying. The paper noted that the US National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team to assist in the investigation of the crash at the request of the Egyptian government.
Al-Gomhouriya said the French authorities trusted that Egyptian salvage efforts were continuing and that France was providing technical assistance in the search for bodies, the flight data recorder and the plane's fuselage.
The paper quoted Minister of Aviation Ahmed Shafiq as saying that a thorough plane maintenance check had been conducted in Norway and that no ban had been imposed on Flash Airlines by Switzerland. "A technical problem and not a terrorist act resulted in the crash," stressed Al-Gomhouriya. Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq was quoted as saying that the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Aviation statement was "inaccurate and baseless".
Against this depressing backdrop, the economy-oriented Al-Alam Al-Yom focussed on the financial costs of the tragedy. The paper revealed that the plane itself was insured to the tune of $500 million but that the passengers were insured for $50 million. The paper added, "Tourism was unaffected and French tourists have not cancelled their bookings."
Away from the Flash Airlines crash, the newspapers reported extensively on the summit meeting between Mubarak and British Prime Minister Tony Blair which took place in Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday. "Egypt and Britain join efforts to push the Middle East peace process forward," trumpeted Al-Akhbar.
But Sawt Al-Umma continued to churn out its customary provocative and sensationalist headlines on more mundane matters. "400 Arab millionaires celebrated New Year's Eve in Cairo's gambling casinos," ran a front-page Sawt Al-Umma headline. "80 per cent of the food consumed by Egyptians is not for human consumption," ran another of the paper's headlines.
The weekly Al-Qahira came out a day after the Sharm El-Sheikh crash and ran only a short front-page report. It was surprisingly devoid of local news on its front page, instead featuring a wide range of Arab issues, from the humiliating capture of Saddam Hussein -- pejoratively branded "The Monster of the Screen" and "The Pride of the [Arab] Nation" -- to the struggle between the conservatives and reformers in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Qahira also ran an article about last week's Iranian earthquake in which it reported that the Iranian authorities acknowledged that Egypt was the first country to offer humanitarian assistance. The paper also noted that the Iraqis had expressed an interest in helping Iran restore the historic sites in the devastated city of Bam. Egypt, too, offered its assistance to the Iranian authorities in the restoration of Bam's historical sites, the paper said. It also quoted an Iranian official as saying that 80 per cent of Bam's historical sites had been destroyed in the earthquake.
Al-Gomhouriya, on the other hand, highlighted Mubarak's address at the opening session of the Conference of African Parliament Speakers in Cairo. "Democracy and development are the principal means of achieving a better future deserving of Africa," the paper quoted Mubarak as saying at the conference.
Taking up the same theme, Egypt's two other official dailies, Al- Ahram and Al-Akhbar, highlighted the African parliamentary conference in their Tuesday editions.
