There were signs of change – well not – just false starts under Morsi.
Take this case. The Alex Governor used makeshift offices to house them since protesters had burnt the official governorate headquarters to the ground during the 2011 revolution the new Governor was happy with that and not spending millions on a new ‘peoples palace’
He unwisely said the following:
“Alex is so different than Cairo; it’s still a melting pot,” says ElMessiry (the governor), who sits, long legs crossed, sipping tea in a gilded chair. He recalls growing up in an Alexandria populated by Jews, Greeks and Italians as well as his fellow Egyptians. “It was very different then,” he says—and not just because it was more diverse. “There were none of these violating skyscrapers—everything was two or three stories’
“We’re trying to do things a little differently.” For example, ElMessiry has adopted what he calls a “proactive approach” to stemming the recent demolition of Alexandria’s historic buildings to make way for high-rise apartment blocks. (See “Growing Pains” p. 32) “The problem is you’ve got someone who talks theory—‘we’ve got to preserve it.’ Ok, that’s great, but the owner died 1,000 years ago and sold it to a contractor who doesn’t know what heritage is and needs to get a 12-storey building in there in order to make millions,” he says. “For how long can you protect it? Eventually, they’ll find a way to destroy it—legally.”
Upon moving into the governor’s office back in February, he was surprised to discover that the facility had neither a high-speed Internet connection nor working telephones. Nearly all the governorate’s public records had been destroyed in the fire. “There’s no data!”
For his part, ElMessiry thinks Egyptians need to stop treating authority figures like “pharaohs.” He makes a point when he can of walking on the streets or taking the tram, where people often stop him to say hello, or complain about the traffic or the trash problem and offer unsolicited advice. ElMessiry says he does his best to listen. “Just don’t ask me for an apartment or a job,” he says, flashing a dimpled smile.
“He’s not the traditional model: the guy who just wants the prestige and doesn’t do anything and wants the people to come to him,” says Mahmoud. “This guy—he goes to the people.” http://www.amcham.org.eg/publications/b ... kes-public
It all came to an end and he resigned/was really fired after a short time following the Alex floods for which he was not responsible and which he had tried to get others to avoid – no matter the ones responsible are still in their jobs and they are all military and the problems go back decades and will take decades to fix – if they are ever fixed.
http://egyptianstreets.com/2015/10/27/e ... -flooding/
He was the first civilian governor appointed since 2011. In office less than a year. Appointed by Morsi. An international business executive with a good education and not anything other than a western liberal.
He used to jog and cycle in Alex and wasn’t obese. The other Governors all on life support or anti-Alzheimer's drugs don't like that:
Some in Cairo saw his glamour and popularity as a threat to the residents of the Imperial bat cave. How could you threaten the brain dead?
A Professor of Economics, educated in the US and Egypt, ran manufacturing and finance firms, deep sympathy for ordinary and poor Egyptians. Talented, energetic and bright. No wiff of corruption. My god if there is no wiff of corruption about you, you are not part of the club and people might start to expect honest politicians - shock, horror.
He was replaced by a police officer.
Foolishness is in the water, and some backed his removal because even the generally not unhinged Zeinobia got angry with the floods/deaths whilst understanding that he had little to do with them – but like many intellectuals in Egypt she understood little about government and the division of responsibility – no power. Should have thought about it better. https://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com ... s.html?m=0
Still confirms in the minds of all – appoint a young(ish) civilian and what do you get – floods and death – better to have elderly generals with double incontinence.
The sewerage system which failed is part of the national ministry of housing and even al Ahram is brave enough to publish that it is derelict and corrupt specifically in relation to contracts that led to the deadly floods. No news on prosecutions or resignations here. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent ... wage-.aspx and claims that there had been no infrastructure developments in alex in 15 years.
He also tried to tackle garbage https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/blog/ ... age-crisis
After the crisis was well over and the governor cleared out and replaced by a cop the president visited distributed a billion or two and directed the army to fix the whole sewerage system in 10 days everyone believed it. http://egyptianstreets.com/2015/11/08/e ... ge-crisis/ even Egyptian streets swallows it.
Later 23 died in floods in Beheria no one resigned. They had a military governor and when was a general ever responsible for failure? http://egyptianstreets.com/2015/11/08/2 ... tial-rain/ The Military governors of Sinai have presided over 8 years of accelerating terrorism and hundreds dead but have never been fired and always supported in their disasters.
The hate for the governor was building well before the floods. Security entities were calling up civil society workers to “discourage” them from meeting with the governor,” wrote Amro in the column on Mada Masr. A local resident told Egyptian Streets that Elmessiry was dealing with corrupt local officials and ‘gangs’. “When he came [to office] he started targeting illegally constructed buildings and exposed those behind many failings. But they didn’t want him to succeed. When he removed the garbage from the streets, they made sure it came back, just to get him out of power.” http://egyptianstreets.com/2015/10/26/i ... ly-floods/
Seemingly a good man tossed out. Why would good people put themselves forward in the future rather than just get out and do well in the US. People liked the tossed one would, over time, have made the other 18 double incontinentees look useless and where would that lead.
If you are going to stay around keep a low profile, attribute all successes to Sisi and take the blame for all failure. Developing dementia can only help.
