Media Should Focus On Morsi’s Accomplishments: PM Kandil

Egypt’s president has achieved much in his first 100 days and the media should focus on the positives, the country’s Prime Minister said on Saturday.

Hisham Kandil said President Mohamed Morsi had faced massive challenges since taking office yet still managed to enact significant changes.

When Morsi came to power in July he promised a 100-day initiative to solve what he deemed Egypt’s most pressing social problems, including fuel and bread shortages, crime, traffic congestion and garbage accumulation. The 100-day period comes to an end on Monday.

Kandil, speaking during an interview with satellite channel Hayat 2 to mark the 39th anniversary of Egypt’s October War, said the media should concentrate on Morsi’s accomplishments.

Among them, he said, were improvements in security and a fall in crime, as well as the “self-restrained” manner with which police had dealt with demonstrators outside the US embassy in mid-September.

Clashes erupted outside the embassy in Cairo’s Garden City last month during protests against an anti-Islam film made by US-based Egyptian Christians. Kandil said the police had dealt well with the situation, repeating his prior claim that demonstrators had been hired to create chaos and destroy property.

The Prime Minister also asked Egyptians demanding improvements in employment conditions be patient, saying the national budget cannot afford to raise salaries. He added that strikes and protests which halt work are “unacceptable.”

Negotiations for a controversial $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund will probably take a further two months, Qandil said. He also promised to form a committee to track the fate of illicit Egyptian funds smuggled abroad during the Mubarak era by the ex-president and his associates.

Ahram