“The Independent Republic of Minufiyah is” not merely its resident’s slogan, the governorate also happens to be without leadership, as no governor has been appointed here for over eight months. It has been left to manage its affairs on its own since President Mohamed Morsi was ousted this past July and its General Secretary Yasin Taher was appointed Cairo’s Deputy Governor and its Assistant Secretary Major General Muhammad Ezzat was appointed General Secretary of the Beni Suef Governorate.
Administrative vacuum
“The Independent Republic of Minufiyah is” not merely its resident’s slogan, the governorate also happens to be without leadership, as no governor has been appointed here for over eight months. It has been left to manage its affairs on its own since President Mohamed Morsi was ousted this past July and its General Secretary Yasin Taher was appointed Cairo’s Deputy Governor and its Assistant Secretary Major General Muhammad Ezzat was appointed General Secretary of the Beni Suef Governorate.
Administrative vacuum
The administrative void started when Minufiyah’s Governor Dr. Mohammed Ali Besher, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, was appointed the Minister of Local Development in January 2013, leaving Minufiyah suffering from unrest, demonstrations and strikes.
Yet many here believed the governorate would not remain governor-less for too long time because of its importance as the hometown of former President Mubarak and many from his cabinet.
“The nature of the Minufiyahns is different and unique; they are born sentimental and they love the military, commitment and political affiliation,” says Ahmad Halbawi, spokesperson for the June 30 Coordination Committee in Minufiyah. “The high ratio of literacy in Minufiyah and the large number of leading positions occupied by Minufiyahns have created an aware administrative spirit that very well differentiates between good and bad performance of administration. Thus, it supports the good administration and revolts against the bad one.”
In mid-May 2013, the Brotherhood appointed the Head of the Brotherhood’s Branch in Minufiyah, Ahmad Shaarwai, Governor. However, residents of Minufiyah announced their rejection of the new governor and staged a sit-in in front of the governorate headquarters to prevent him from entering his office from mid May until he fled to Cairo through Shibin Al Kawm Sea on July 3 after the toppling of Morsi.
Then, Al Beblawi’s governorate appointed Yasser Hudaibi, from the Wafd Party, Governor of Minufiyah during the latest appointments of governors. But Hudaibi too was rejected by the Minufiyahns because, they claimed, he was “with multiple affiliations.” He was a Brotherhood supporter because his family was as well and then he became a member of the National Party and a member in its Policy Committee before he finally he joined the Wafd Party.
Youth movements threatened that Hudaibi would face the same destiny Shaarawi had, so he did not accept the position. Thus, the appointment of a new governor was postponed indefinitely.
Punishment or neglect?
Residents of Minufiyah deny the idea that not appointing a governor for such a long period of time, in addition to transferring the general secretary, is a kind of punishment. Instead, they believe it means that Minufiyah is out of consideration, which is a kind of neglect by the Brotherhood towards the governorate.
“No one can punish the Minufiyahns who were the spark of June 30 with their sit-ins in front of the governorate headquarters for more than 17 days,” said Ahmad Sofa from the village of Shanwan. “We refuse the political and administrative neglect of the governorate for being the homeland of Mubarak and his cronies.”
Self-management
The Minufiyahns’ discipline may explain the absence of major catastrophes despite the vacancy of the governor post. “The governorate is led by the power of self-propulsion springing from the love of the Minufiyahns have of military, and their passionate collaboration against the previous regime has made them determined to succeed, despite the absence of a governor for over eight months, and even without having a general secretary,” adds Halbawi who is close to the employees of the governorate headquarters.
“Citizens of Minufiyah have a high level of awareness and great love for their land and country. They are more insightful and aware than any other community, and they express themselves differently. The Minufiyahns always think about anything before doing it. Maintaining calmness in the street and public institutions and not sabotaging them is the greatest evidence to the balance and awareness they enjoy,” says the former General Secretary of Minufiyah and the current Cairo deputy governor, Major General Yasin Taher.
Tired of neglect
Despite that, neglecting Minufiyah has given birth to resentment among its people and among the revolutionary powers, including the independent April 6 Youth Movement (A6YM) in Minufiyah. “The governorate was the pioneer in collecting signatures for the Tamarod campaign, calling for the deposition of Morsi, and it was the first to stage sit-ins in refusal to the Brotherhood’s governors. Leaving the governorate without a governor or a general secretary is a kind of excessive neglect. We feel that it is a cake divided among the close ones,” says Muhammad Kamal, the A6YM Coordinator in Minufiyah.
“There are many question marks around the Minister of Local Development, Major General Adel Labib, because he is doing his job based on the award principle and is following the steps of the Brotherhood where they appointed a governor who failed in managing the governorate, and then they chose another one from the remnants of the previous regime. I believe that an independent technocrat should be appointed governor,” he adds.
In love with the army
The Secretary General of the Tagammu Party in Minufiyah, Haitham Sharabi, says the crisis of Minufiyah is due to the fact that it had a large number of officials in the previous governments just as under Mubarak’s, and it did not accept governors with obvious political affiliations. The Minufiyahns, says Sharabi, love army men, something that Mubarak’s regime comprehended. This is why all governors under him were major generals, while the Brotherhood did understand it and all governors under Morsi were supporters of the Brotherhood. The same mistake was made by Al Beblawi’s government.
“I absolutely refuse appointing governors affiliated to the Brotherhood or to the National Party. We do not accept either a governor who would come out of administrative and political randomness. We want a governor with administrative experience in order to efficiently handle the popular and revolutionary forces and run the governorate.”
