Leading NDP Figure: Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif’s Government Failed

Dr. Alia Al-Mahdi, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University and Member at the Policies Secretariat-NDP, has entered the realm of speculation amid talks about an imminent cabinet reshuffle because the cabinet of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif is the main reason behind the deterioration of Egypt’s educational process and has contributed to the persistence of poverty.
 
She emphasized in Dream TV talk show Red Light aired yesterday that the government has neglected the development of the educational process, acknowledging that it did not place quality of education among its top priorities and its current Minister of Education, Dr. Ahmed Zaki Badr, focuses his efforts only on discipline, without regard to the development of the educational system.
 
Alia maintains that since 2008, the performance of Nazif’s government is unfortunate due to the global financial crisis, and a sharp decline in income, investment and development. "The Egyptian economy experienced steady GDP growth rates around 7% in 2008 and it also witnessed sluggishness that had a negative impact on per capita income," she said.
 
She also recognized that income distribution is not satisfactory, noting that not only poverty rates are increasing but people are living in absolute poverty, demanding the government to amend income and to develop radical solutions for high poverty rates.