Op-ed review: Heart Institute director, Women’s Day, Algeria

Fatma Lotfi
3 Min Read

In Sunday newspaper issues, Egyptian columnists followed the decision of the dismissal of Gamal Shaban, the director of Egyptian National Heart Institute. They also wrote about the International Women’s Day, which was celebrated last Friday, as well as the ongoing uprising in Algeria.

In Al-Masry Al-Youm, Mohamed Amin wondered about the extent of Egyptian ministers’ authority. Amin claimed that the decisions of the Minister of Health, Hala Zayed, were not devoid of revenge suspicions, which raised a popular rage as no official has the right to dismiss any employee without a clear reason.

Amin argued that the dismissal of Shaban is a great loss, criticising Zayed’s decision, being made without carrying out an investigation.

In Al-Shorouk newspaper, Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafiz opined that the dismissal of Shaban has two sides, one is that the director of the Heart Institute had a vision to develop and reform the institute since he took office achieving remarkable success. The second is that Shaban might “manoeuvre around bureaucracy” in order to treat poor patients free of charge.

On the other hand, Amina Khairy of Al-Masry Al-Youm wrote that Egyptian women represent the clear image of how Egyptian people changed over the last half-century. Khairy rationalised her viewpoint by saying that women have always been the weakest point historically and culturally.

Khairy continued that the appearances of the Egyptian woman reflect many things, noting that women in the streets are working hard to hide their ‘femininity’.

Furthermore, Khairy added that women in Egypt are paying the price for the existing religious discourse which dominated the country over the past five decades. 

Else ways, Soliman Goda offered a piece of advice to ‘the brothers’ in Algeria to accept what the sitting President Abdelaziz Bouteflika suggested. Otherwise, the alternative would be the crawling of Islamists automatically to the power.

Goda drew a similarity between ousted president Hosni Mubarak and Algeria’s Bouteflika, arguing that Mubarak warned protesters against the chaos, as he knew that the Muslim Brotherhood was waiting for a chance to rise to power–backed by Americans and that’s what happened, Goda noted.

Furthermore, Goda concluded that what happened in Algeria today is similar to what happened in Egypt in 2011, arguing that people should not make the same mistake twice.

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A journalist in DNE's politics section with more than six years of experience in print and digital journalism, focusing on local political issues, terrorism and human rights. She also writes features on women issues and culture.
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