Egyptians wave their national flag as they gather during a sit-in at Tahrir square, Cairo, Egypt, 11.07.2011. Photo: PAP/EPA/Andre Pain
The goal of the visit is to support the democratic transformations in Egypt. Talking to journalists before leaving Warsaw, Mr Borusewicz referred to his talks in Tunisia in May, saying that the visit to Cairo is a continuation of Poland’s mission in North Africa.
“I hope I could offer some help in the current debate on the shape of a new, democratic country,” he said, adding that the people of Egypt are not happy with the pace of the democratic transformations.
Yesterday, Cairo’s central Tahrir Square was once again full of protestors. With Egypt’s government to be reshuffled within a week, demonstrators continued an open-ended strike in Cairo and other big cities to push for massive changes in the country.
Protesters have been calling for ministers to be replaced, either because of their links to the Mubarak regime or the slow pace of reform in their respective ministries. Demonstrators camping out in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square blocked access to the largest government building for the second day in a row.
“I would like to gain first-hand insights into why they are not satisfied,” Mr Borusewicz said, stressing that the political transformations in Poland were much more difficult than those in Egypt as a free-market economy did not exist in communist Poland, and political reforms are always much easier than economic transformations.
The Senate Speaker also said that the problems connected with bringing to account representatives of the regime of Hosni Mubarak is likely to be taken up in his talks in Cairo. “With the number of the victims of the demonstrations running into hundreds, it is clear that their families and friends want members of the old regime to be brought to justice,” Borusewicz said, adding that the present authorities in Egypt should create the necessary mechanisms for this to happen.
The programme of the visit also includes meetings with the Head of the Christian Coptic Church, young revolutionaries and representatives of Freedom House, an international NGO promoting democracy, political liberties and human rights.
The visit comes at a turbulent time for Egypt as a group masked terrorists attacked and blew up a gas terminal in North Sinai on Tuesday morning. The terminal, which is located some 50 kilometres from the Israeli border, provides both Israel and Jordan with gas.
The group forced the guards to flee before blowing up the terminal, with the blaze visible from 20 kilometres away. The MENA news agency has reported that Egyptian security services are searching for the group, adding that no deaths have been as yet reported from the attack.
This is the fourth attack on gas installations on Sinai this year. After ambushes on 5 February and 27 April the pipeline was disabled for a number of weeks.
Egyptian gas is vital for its neighbours – Jordan is 80 percent dependent on Egyptian supplies, while Israel’s gas needs are 40 percent covered by deliveries from Egypt. (mk/jb)
Source: IAR/PAP