Commentators in major Egyptian newspapers have discussed the celebration of the sixth anniversary of the April 6 Youth Movement and the potential for establishing its own political party. Meanwhile, some writers continued to condemn the negative reaction of the Salafis in Egypt after the recent visits of Iranian tourists to Luxor.
Mohamed Salmawi
The April 6 celebration
Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper
Salmawi narrates the celebration of the sixth anniversary of the April 6 Youth Movement. Being among those honoured in the celebration, the writer expresses his gratitude to the political group. April 6 has reached a level of political maturity that enables it to proceed further with the establishment of its own political party, says the writer. Salmawi gives some background about the movement and the political success it has achieved, both in terms of social mobilisation or the ability to align with other revolutionary forces. The movement’s participation in the “national revolutionary bloc” which is led by Tareq Al-Kholy and Tamer Al-Kady has also added more weight to its political importance in Egypt.
April 6 was one of the main triggers of the 25 January Revolution, according to Salmawi, and has the clear potential for developing into a political party with the ability to run in upcoming parliamentary elections. The writer concludes by saying that the formation of a new political party led by 6 April is one of the most obvious results of the uprising. He believes that such a move would have a great influence on the future political developments occurring in Egypt. This party, currently being formed, also requires some sort of celebration says Salmawi.
Emad Al-Din Hussein
The Salafis have mistaken and the president has not
Al-Shorouk newspaper
Hussein condemns the negative reaction of the ultra-conservative Salafis towards the recent visits of Iranian tourists to the Upper Egypt city of Luxor. He starts off his column by saying that he has repeatedly written against the foreign policy of President Mohamed Morsi. Despite this, Hussein is supportive of Morsi’s openness with Iran and willingness to maintain good relations with the Persian state. As for fears that the Shi’a country would have a negative influence on Egypt, a predominantly Sunni country, Hussein believes that only if our Sunni community does not hold a strong faith then it would be affected by any sect, and not just the Shi’a.
If Egypt continues to maintain a good relationship with the Zionist state of Israel, Hussein says, why wouldn’t we build relations with countries like Iran? The visits of Iranian tourists, from the writer’s perspective, will not affect the Egyptians’ Sunni faith. Morsi was not mistaken to attend conferences in Tehran or receive the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Cairo. It is apparently the fault of the Salafis in Egypt who want to limit our relations to certain countries, states Hussein.
No revolution based on lies
Wael Qandil
Al-Shorouk newspaper
Qandil believes that there can be no revolution based on lies and rumours. Instead, he believes that all revolutions established their foundations only on facts and prove truths. Therefore, a regime like that of the ousted president Hosni Mubarak was brought down by a revolution. When millions of Egyptians took to the streets to protest against the corruption that spread to almost all the country’s institutions, the revolution managed to replace the lies with truths. The writer criticises the recent lies and rumours resurfacing around various issues including claims that Qatar will buy shares in the Suez Canal and that Palestine will own a part of Sinai.
Most recently, the writer was provoked by the debate revolving around the Halai’b and Shalateen territories in Upper Egypt. During President Morsi’s two-day visit to Sudan, it was said that he promised his Sudanese counterpart to do his utmost best to return the areas back to Sudan. Although the presidency has refuted the statements and described it as “unacceptable”, Qandil believes that the circulation of such lies and the repetition of meaningless rumours completely conflicts with the concept of the revolution. He wraps up his column stating that tourism in Egypt has been negatively affected by such lies.
