Tuesday, August 7, 2012

You do not need too much social intelligence to know when to grin

Salah El Shahed , a name many Egyptians ignore yet played a very important role in the history of modern Egypt since 1940s till 1970s in the backstage. Salah El Shahed was the head of the presidential protocols in time of Naguib , Nasser and Sadat after occupying similar place in King Farouk´s Abdeen Palace.
Trained on the royal protocols , the man did not refuse to work with the Free officers especially Nasser and Sadat. In nutshell  I think Mohamed Morsi needs a man like Salah El Shahed to help in his position and to teach him the protocols and how to act as a president.
I suddenly remember Salah El Shahed when I saw the photos of Morsi, our newly elected president , the first civilian to rule Egypt wearing a grey striped tie instead of black tie to mourn our officers and soldiers. 
Morsi with Libyan PM Abdel Rahim
Keeb "Reuters"
May be I am picky but those small things mean so much to me. Of course the tie's color is not nothing compared to the major problem here , the smiling problem.


I can not ignore that big and stupid grin on Morsi's face !!
Big grin "Reuters"
Yes this is the first Libyan PM to visit Egypt after the Presidential elections but you should not smile in this way when 16 of officers and soldiers are killed in less than 24 hours on the borders in the first national security test for you as the president , as the Supreme commander of armed forces. "Even if you are not the actual commander of the army because of the constitutional declaration annex". 
The smiling problem of these photos will not be solved by a man like Salah El Shahed , you do not need too much social intelligence to act in a national mourning situation , when 16 of your officers and soldiers were killed in cold blood in less than 24 hours and you grin like that !!?
Already the photos of Morsi and his big grin while receiving the Libyan PM are being used to attack him and showing him as inconsiderate person by his political opponents in Egypt through social media and seriously they are spreading like fire. 
That shoot already can make the Egyptian officers and soldiers hate him more than they do !!
What makes it worse is that in that meeting the head of intelligence Mourad Mwafi was also there and .. here is his photo.
Mourad Mwafi "Reuters" 
This is a look of  man who knows that he is in deep shit ,serious shit to be accurate after all the wise men in the country know that this massacre that took place is the responsibility of both army and intelligence. Many wise men blame the intelligence for its failure in prevent this massacre and now there are demands that Morsi should dismiss him."I think SCAF owns this decision actually"
The Egyptian Intelligence "GIS" already did this huge PR campaign after Omar Suleiman to clear its name , Mwafi even sponsored meetings with political powers that used to refuse to sit with SCAF. Yet all this gone with the wind after their horrible fiasco. In any real country Mwafi should be interrograted in front of some parliamentary committee like congressional committees.
Politicians are great actors who got enough social intelligence , I am afraid Morsi lacks it social intelligence in very hard time.
I fear that Reuters photojournalist will not be welcomed in presidency any more after this post as the MB can not stand any criticism from any kind !!

7 comments:

  1. this is not fair. Have you not smiled since the event. In your daily life at the store when someone greeted you or any other instance of almsot involuntary reflex. Please don't go down the route of shoddy journalism like so much else of the Egyptian press.

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    Replies
    1. Agree with you but neither me, you or Zeinobia are president of Egypt!!!

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    2. zeinab isn't running the country and followed by cameras 24/7. i think making the 'he's only human' argument every time he makes a mistake is denying the responsibilities he has to consider. his daily life is not supposed to be like our daily lives. i don't want a president who thinks like me-- i can't run a country! i want someone smarter than me. part of his job is being aware of the media-- that was a Reuters photo, not the Egyptian press and that photo is going to have consequences, all of which could be avoided if he was a little more aware.

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  2. Dear Zeinobia,
    H.E. Mr. Salah EL SHAHED was the last of his "Species"!!! As the 1952 coup agressed ferociously aristocracy and nobilty (which by the way is not an act of birth), leading titles like Pacha to be used even for a mechanic or a street pusher; Mr. El Shahed maintained his noble aristicratic posture and used it to vest Nasser and Sadat the faces they had, because they had a certain personal natural grace easing his mission.. As for the late President NAGUIB, he didn't even need teaching for he was REALLY an officer and a true Gentlemen.
    Elegance and Presence can hardly be taught.. Either you have the tissue or you don't.
    In my opinion, Mr. Morsi needs to relax out of his strains, and know that he's THE President not a trainee or an Acting President in a Probation period.. People expect him to ACT not to REACT to explain or to justify.. Otherwise they will not trust his decision making abilities.

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  3. Dear Zeinobia,
    i respect and appreciate your comments and articles much. But in this case i think your should focus on something else. We don't have to argue that mr Mursi isn't exactly giving the best performance. But that's not because he smiles on a picture. Not attending the funeral is something else. Or not getting started with fullfilling his promises.

    But i'm afraid Egypt is in bigger trouble than a smile or the attitude of a president can cause (whch depends on the point of view btw). The state is failing in Sinai significantly, as Egypt Independent writes correctly today (http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/failing-state-sinai-people-protect-army). In the rest of the country are huge problems as you know and report yourself.

    You should focus on these important topics rather than on a smile. Even if it is another aspect of a not too convincing start as a president.

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  4. May be we should hire an X-President to teach Morsi how to become a president!!

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  5. Easy people, easy. No one is born as perfect man or woman to the job. Even the queen Elizabeth II makes mistakes, despite being the monarch for over 60 years. The natural law rule is simple - you respect the dead and welcome with smile your gests.

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