Former Information Minister Mansour Hassan said that continued labor protests on the sidewalk outside Egypt’s parliament building embodied the government’s failure to deal with citizens’ basic needs.
He added that the authorities’ inability to resolve the problem–and to leave citizens “out on the street”–was “unacceptable.”
Hassan told Al-Masry Al-Youm that recent tactics by growing number of protesters–such as wearing torn clothing, sleeping on the streets and holding mock funerals–only served to reveal their desperation due to government neglect.
He added that the government’s “take-it-or-leave-it” approach to protesters only served to humiliate all Egyptians.
“I don’t call on the government to rashly meet all the demands, but it must take steps to deal with these issues quickly, since government policy should aim to establish fair rules–not to humiliate and ignore the people,” Hassan said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
