RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations



Recommendations

The Chief Executive Officer,

XYZ Company,

Dear Sir,

This is to suggest about the future of our company operations in Egypt. As we all know that Egypt is experiencing riots, strikes by their citizens, unconfirmed violence against their people by the government, and other atrocities which is a very dangerous situation for our workforce working there. Apart from the company's financial point of view regarding the revenue being generated from Egypt, I would like to state the current state of affairs in Egypt to explain the situation there.

The political landscape of Egypt changed dramatically as a result of 2011's 'Arab Spring' when protesters forced President Mubarak from office, leaving the military in charge of the interim government. Egypt's recent political turmoil is likely to lead to deterioration in public finances. The government is expected to increase spending on subsidies and public works projects adding to the recently adopted 15% wage hike in the public sector, while revenue will be depressed by a fall in economic activity and trade. (Zahid, 2011)

Although the move to hold elections early signals the army's commitment to transfer power to a civilian administration, it may also disadvantage new opposition groups. Snap elections would leave such nascent parties with little time to organise and establish a support base, thereby favouring better-established parties, which are perceived as lacking in credibility by the new generation of politically active youth. Mohamed ElBaradei, a possible candidate for the presidency and the former secretary-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has said that Egypt should wait at least a year before holding a parliamentary election. The army says that it will lift the state of emergency that has been in place since 1981 ahead of the September election. (Amin 2011)

In early March, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces appointed Essam Sharaf, a former transport minister under Mr Mubarak, as prime minister. The foreign affairs, interior and justice ministers, all of whom were closely associated with the former regime, were also replaced in the reshuffle. (El-Hewie 2011)

The principal instigators of the anti-regime uprising, which started with mass rallies on January 25th (National Police Day), were groups formed on social networks that have been campaigning for some time against corruption, inequality, police brutality and the monopolisation of political institutions by the former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). These groups were galvanised by the conduct of the general election at the end of 2010, which was widely criticised as being the most fraudulent in Egypt's history. The licensed opposition parties and the banned Muslim Brotherhood played a subsidiary role in the protests, but will be involved in the process of charting a new political future for Egypt, based on broader participation in the political system. (Sirrs 2011)

The emergence of new parties, both secular and Islamist, may threaten the Brotherhood's traditionally strong position. In particular, salafis, who are proponents of radical Islam, have taken a more forceful stance since the revolution. The renewed vocalisation of Salafi ideology has also contributed to a sudden spurt in sectarian ...