Monday’s papers reveal how Egypt’s political scene has reached a boiling point amid escalating tension ahead of May’s presidential election.
Independent Al-Tahrir publishes a story about violent clashes that broke out on Saturday between supporters of disqualified hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail and thugs, along with a photo showing “cautious” calm on Sunday.
It is reported that dozens of the Salafi preacher’s supporters were attacked during their march toward the Defense Ministry in the Cairo neighborhood of Abbasseya to protest the Presidential Elections Commission’s decision to exclude him from the race.
Abu Ismail had been one of the front-runners in the race before the commission barred him from running because of evidence that showed his late mother had dual American-Egyptian nationality. A law issued after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster states that presidential candidates, along with their parents and spouses, must only have Egyptian nationality.
While both sides threw rocks and Molotov cocktails for two hours, Al-Tahrir highlights that military police, “as usual,” did not take any action to restore order.
Newspapers also show discrepancies over the number of people wounded in the overnight Saturday clashes.
While Al-Tahrir writes that 154 people were wounded, state-run Al-Ahram and privately owned Al-Dostour report that one person died and 119 injured. Independent Youm7 paper cut down the number, saying only 90 were wounded.
State-run Al-Akhbar covers a news article from The New York Times with the headline “Abouel Fotouh stands the highest chance for succeeding Mubarak.”
The New York Times sees the modernist presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh as the strongest rival in the forthcoming presidential poll after the Salafi Nour Party announced its support for him Saturday.
Abouel Fotouh is appealing to secular-minded Egyptians, especially after Mohamed ElBaradei quit the race, for believing in what the Times described as “Islamic democracy.”
However, the latest poll conducted by Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies showed different results than the foreign newspaper’s analysis.
According to the statistics, Abouel Fotouh falls in second behind Amr Moussa with a wide gap between the two rivals. The former foreign minister under Mubarak came first, with the support of 41.1 percent of those surveyed.
The poll found that Abouel Fotouh ranked the second in the poll and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq came in third.
Finally, the rank of presidential candidate Mohamed Morsy showed a drop in the Muslim Brotherhood’s popularity, as he only obtained 3.7 percent of votes.
Party newspaper Al-Wafd leads with an article on the People’s Assembly decision to suspend all sessions until 6 May to protest the military’s refusal to dismiss the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri.
The Islamist-dominated Parliament has repeatedly demanded that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces dismiss the Cabinet, threatening to withdraw confidence from it.
However, Youm7 shows a rift among MPs on halting parliamentary sessions, saying more than 80 MPs have signed a memorandum denouncing the decision. Those MPs included representatives from Nour, Wafd, the Free Egyptians, Egyptian Social Democratic and Asala parties, as well as others.
In response to the escalating anger from Parliament, People’s Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny received a phone call from the military council to affirm its respect for Parliament, pledging cabinet reshuffle within 48 hours, state-owned Al-Ahram reports.
In a two-page spread, Al-Akhbar reports on the reactions over the diplomatic crisis between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Hundreds protested in front of the Saudi Embassy last week demanding the release of Egyptian human rights lawyer Ahmed al-Gizawy, who was arrested by Saudi Arabia authorities when he arrived in the country to perform the Umra pilgrimage.
The paper says Katatny called his Saudi counterpart to express his profound sorrow for the recent incidents that led to the deteriorating relationship between the two countries.
Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Cairo following mass demonstrations against reports that Gizawy had been sentenced to one year in prison in absentia and 20 lashes for hurling insults at Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.
Speaking on behalf of the Cabinet on Sunday in a press conference, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abouelnaga stressed the depth of the relations between both countries, adding that the Saudi ambassador is expected to return to Cairo within hours.
Besides the officials’ statements trying to contain the situation, independent daily Al-Shorouk writes that hundreds of workers for headhunters employing Egyptians in Saudi Arabia denounced insults against kingdom’s ruler, chanting in front of the embassy, “Egypt and Saudi Arabia are one hand.”
Egypt's papers:
