{"id":647266,"date":"2017-05-07T04:00:05","date_gmt":"2017-05-07T04:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2017\/05\/07\/egypt-in-the-news-on-7-may-2017\/"},"modified":"2017-05-07T04:00:05","modified_gmt":"2017-05-07T04:00:05","slug":"egypt-in-the-news-on-7-may-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2017\/05\/07\/egypt-in-the-news-on-7-may-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt in the news on 7 May 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coverage of Egypt in the international press this morning is relatively light and neutral, ranging from the stupid (the notion of Egypt \u201ccharging\u201d for Facebook use, courtesy the Independent<\/a>) to the depressing (bread lines, from the always on-point Heba Saleh for the Financial Times<\/a>).<\/p>\n

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is \u201ctrying to neuter the courts, with the help of a<\/strong> pliant parliament,\u201d<\/strong> The Economist<\/a> writes. The newspaper says defenders of the Judicial Authorities Act argue that the government needs more power to fight terrorism and slow judicial proceedings hamper that. However, other motives could be \u201cto block the promotion of judges who irritatingly rule against\u201d the government, it says, pointing specifically to the likes of Yehia El Dakroury, who had been expected to become chief judge of the State Council in July, and ruled against the president\u2019s handover of the Tiran and Sanafir Islands, as well as Anas Omara, who was next in line to lead the Court of Cassation and had revoked Ikhwan death sentences. The Economist says the Supreme Constitutional Court could reject the law altogether, \u201csetting up a showdown with the president.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over at The Hill in Washington, the Middle East Forum\u2019s Cliff Smith writes that the US must<\/strong>back El Sisi<\/strong><\/a>, arguing that, \u201cEgypt must be viewed through the lens of former U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick\u2019s influential essay \u2018Dictatorships and Double Standards<\/a>.\u2019 It boils down to this: when presented with the choice between a non-ideological authoritarian regime and totalitarian political ideological regime, choose the former. They are often better for America\u2019s interests and, over time, are more likely to improve human rights and allow for democratic reforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The counterpoint, in the form of This Week\u2019s Most Insipid Hit Job on Egypt: <\/strong>\u201cHow Sisi could wreck the Egyptian economy<\/a>,\u201d which recycles the standard crowding-out of the private sector, brink of disaster verbiage. Would that someone took the time to write a meaningful critique of Egypt\u2019s economic policy \u2014 there would be value in that.<\/p>\n

Other coverage of Egypt in the international press worth noting in brief:<\/p>\n