CAIRO: A study carried out by the Information and Decision Support Center indicated that 89 percent of surveyed Egyptians are satisfied with the new cabinet s performance.
The study under the auspices of the Prime Minister s Cabinet showed that 22 percent rated the government s two-year performance as very good and 26 percent rated it as good.
While 21 percent rated the cabinet s performance as satisfactory, 11 percent said they were dissatisfied.
The results also showed a lower satisfaction rate among youth and females.
But senior political analysts strongly disagreed with the survey results.
Diaa Rashwan said he believed the government s popularity with the masses was slowly corroding.
He pointed to the steady, but high inflation rate, high cost of living and unemployment as pivotal elements which have made the current cabinet unpopular.
But it isn t only the government, Rashwan added, the people are generally dissatisfied with the National Democratic Party as well as President Hosni Mubarak .
When asked to point to recent statistics showing an increase in the country s GDP and a strengthening of the economy, Rashwan said ordinary Egyptians do not feel this development if it really exists .
Business men are minority, but the majority which is constituted by the average Egyptian citizens is not happy or satisfied with the current economic situation, Rashwan said.
We are living in a completely incompatible society..and the contentment of business men can also indicate that the rest of the society is unhappy, Rashwan added.
In a press conference covered by The Daily Star Egypt on Feb. 14, Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid acknowledged that the average citizen may not immediately feel the effects of an improved economy.
Although Rachid said that the private sector is accomplishing astonishing feats and there are more than 1,400 new companies waiting for a location to start their business in Egypt due to the government s enhanced investment policies, the average Egyptian is untouched by this growth. Some people already felt the effect but we have a huge population and it is a long journey to make 70 million citizens experience the difference, Rachid said.
Rachid has also admitted that Egypt is facing challenged in the transportation, education and health sectors and stated that the government is not waiting for funds to create development but is trying to undergo changes in the management systems in those sectors..
