Within days, a new session of the Youth Conferences will be held. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi will attend and participate in the conference. The upcoming conference may be difficult and held at a critical time. The question is why?
The conference will be the first appearance of Al-Sisi after the decisions made to increase the prices of electricity and fuel. The past period included a long absence of the president, who would be seen every week either before the opening of a project or to inspect opened projects. During these appearances, he would direct some messages to the people.
Hence, Egyptians are waiting for the president’s appearance to justify to them the reason for these increases and when they will be over, as well as when citizens will reap the fruits of the reform programme.
Answers require transparency and bold decisions to address the negative effects of the reform programme and achieving justice in distributing burdens on all segments of the society, each based on their abilities to handle these burdens. As for the expected heated discussions, many questions require clear answers related to policies and timings. No one needs general or unclear answers anymore. We need to understand why there is a delay in improving the quality of the services offered to citizens despite the technological revolution and why we do not utilise it. Until when will we remain unable to solve the mystery and allow this deadlock to control the political scene as we approach the parliamentary elections next year and local elections that we do not know when will be held and according to which election system. No one knows where the youth who participated in the presidential qualification programme are for the leadership positions in all sectors of the state.
When will Egypt overcome the stage of the “World Cup’s zero” and reach a stage of an honourable representation in the case of reaching the finals, unlike the early exit and the misfortune of Russia’s World Cup.
Why would Qatar organise the 2020 World Cup and Morocco prepares to organise the championship and we would not? This is because we are still in the World Cup’s zero stage. When we requested to organise the World Cup during the era of former President Hosni Mubarak, we discovered we are not qualified for organising such an event. We do not have a clear system for anything. In other words, we do not have a manual for any service or sector. Everything is random and lacks quality. Even in terms of the state itself, no one knows which political or economic system we are using at the moment. No one knows until this moment the date of the upcoming parliamentary elections or which system it will be held according to.
No one knows who will run in the next presidential election three years from now. Unfortunately, we are still living in the phase where this is a semi-country. Yes, the country’s institutions and stability are back, but the institutions lack efficiency, and there is no security. Citizens are subject to looting and violence. Children are still getting kidnapped, and corruption is everywhere.
Mr president, what I propose is a dialogue you would not hear in a conference. A dialogue on coffee shops, transportation, and homes. People are waiting for so much from you. It was you who decided to take this responsibility, but you and the army decided to take it alone and the burden is too big to be carried alone and the challenges are growing.
Why you do not let the people participate in carrying that responsibility with you? Talk to them and let them talk to you so the dialogue can be mutual and the consequences would be handled by everyone rather than you alone.
Mr president, you have accomplished so much work during the first presidential term, and this cannot be denied, but achieving loyalty and instilling it is more important than building a bridge or a road. Open the door for political parties and civil society inquisitions. Allow them to present their ideas and discuss them with you for the sake of public interest. Not everyone who criticises or opposes you means evil.
Mr president, the people have chosen and supported you because they found someone to save the country at a difficult time, so all segments of the society who are standing beside you want to see this scene again, but this time in a national dialogue for all segments and classes.
Hussein Abdrabbu is the Editor in Chief of Al-Borsa newspaper.
