The Republic newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Gamal Abdulrahim, was recently dismissed after publishing the news of the referral of Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi and Lieutenant General Sami Anan, former members of the Military Council, to the Illicit Gains Body and preventing them from traveling.
The Republic newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Gamal Abdulrahim, was recently dismissed after publishing the news of the referral of Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi and Lieutenant General Sami Anan, former members of the Military Council, to the Illicit Gains Body and preventing them from traveling.
Printing this information put Abdulrahim in a confrontation with the Muslim Brotherhood, which dominates the Shura Council, the competent authority to appoint and dismiss the chief editors of national newspapers. The event is a pivotal turning point in the relationship between the Muslim Brotherhood and state media institutions.
Only a few months ago, Abdulrahim was appointed editor-in-chief of the newspaper by a decision of the Shura Council itself. He also belonged to one of the inner circles of the president of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate (EJS), Mamdouh el-Wali, who is a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood.
What do you think of the decision to dismiss you?
It is a settling of scores by the Muslim Brotherhood, including Mamdouh el-Wali, the EJS President, and an embodiment of the double standard policy.
What do you mean by the double standard policy?
I mean there are fallacies and double standards. Perhaps the best evidence is that ‘Al-Ahram Al-Arabi’ newspaper – of ‘Al-Ahram’ newspaper – whose chief editor is the EJS President Mamdouh el-Wali, published three pages about the trial of Tantawi and Anan, but no one said a word.
Press group objected to the intervention of the Shura Council in the appointment of the chief editors of national newspapers, but you accepted that. Why do you now say now the council should not interfere?
After the election of the Shura Council, its president, Dr. Ahmed Fahmy, directly made statements confirming that the Council is going to change 54 press leaderships. Subsequently, I along with Hisham Younis, Ossama Daoud and Karem Mahmoud – members of the EJS Council – filed an urgent request to the EJS Council and we had a meeting the next day, despite the absence of the EJS President and we issued a statement criticizing the involvement of the Shura Council in the national newspapers affairs.
Then, we invited members of the boards of directors to meetings at the EJS to coordinate the development of standards and mechanisms for selecting heads of national newspapers. We had more than a hearing in the presence of the EJS president and all members of the EJS Council and reached several criteria. We also attended a Shura Council’s hearing with the Culture and Media Committee, where we also agreed on several criteria.
After that, we were truly surprised that the Shura Council selected a particular set of criteria. So we filed our objection to the EJS Council and succeeded in amending some mechanisms of selecting new heads, including creating a committee to test each candidate journalist. We rejected this, so it was amended to submitting the candidate journalist’s CV, action plan and part of archive to a committee of senior professionals. All this prompted me to accept the chief editor post of the Republic newspaper.
Some believe that you support the Muslim Brotherhood, especially since many of your positions were in favor of to the EJS President.
If I were a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, I would not have published 15 consecutive interviews entitled “Dissidents from the Muslim Brotherhood.” Among the figures I interviewed were Kamal Helbawy, Mohamed Habib, Mukhtar Noah and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders who defected and exposed them. The headline of the interview with Kamal Helbawy read “We want to know the funding sources of the Muslim Brotherhood”, while the headline of the interview with Tharwat Kherbawi was “President Morsi is an agent to the Americans”. Fifty days into Morsi’s presidency, we prepared three files of four pages each where the newspaper surveyed the views of the political forces, former presidential candidates and the public, and all opinions were against the president.
How do you explain the daily headlines of the Republic newspaper on President Morsi and his tours at home and abroad?
That is not true at all. We only published two articles about the president’s visits to Iran and Turkey, and all parties, independent and national newspapers published them. We did not publish news of his prayers or internal meetings.
Do you regret having accepted the appointment of national newspapers heads by the Shura Council and your appointment as editor-in-chief of the Republic newspaper?
Of course, I strongly regretted that, especially that I did not follow the advice of Dr. Azazi Ali Azazi, former governor of Sharqia, who told me in a meeting, “There is no honor in working under the Muslim Brotherhood.” In addition, I failed as a member of the EJS Council.
Did EJS protect you against what you call intransigence and settling of scores by the Shura Council and the Muslim Brotherhood?
EJS can be divided into two parts: the Council members who defended the Egyptian press and me, by all possible means, and the EJS president’s responsibility for the defense of the EJS and journalism, which is a shameful role that can only be described as defeatist. What happens to me is directed by the EJS President Mamdouh el-Wali.
