Egypt and Bahrain agreed to “contain tensions” in order to stabilize the region. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Ati stressed, during a phone call on Wednesday, with his Bahraini counterpart, Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, “the importance of continuing coordination and close consultation during the current stage.”
During the call, the two Foreign Ministers discussed various aspects of the distinguished bilateral relations and the recent regional developments and their repercussions on the security and stability of the region within the framework of continuous communication and coordination between the two brotherly countries.
Abdel-Ati and Al-Zayani praised the depth of the brotherly bilateral relations that bring the two countries together and the level of cooperation existing between them in various fields. They also expressed their aspiration to continue and strengthen these relations during the next stage.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, the two ministers discussed developments in the current regional situation, stressing the importance of intensifying efforts aimed at reducing the escalation and containing any tensions in a way that contributes to maintaining the security and stability of the region.
Meanwhile, Egypt condemned in the strongest terms the missile attacks that targeted the territory of the sisterly Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, affirming its full solidarity with Jordan and its standing by its side in the face of everything that threatens its security, stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Egypt stressed, in a statement to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, its categorical rejection of any escalatory actions that would expand the circle of conflict and threaten the security and stability of the region. It called for the need to immediately stop the attacks, exercise restraint, and give priority to diplomatic tracks, in order to prevent the region from sliding into further escalation and instability.
Egypt repeatedly affirms its solidarity with the sisterly Arab countries, and stresses its complete rejection of any attacks that affect its security, stability, and territorial integrity.
It also indicates that it has repeatedly warned of the consequences of renewed successive attacks and the expanding threat to the security and safety of sister countries and freedom of international navigation, and that the continuation of this approach would lead to a vicious circle of confrontation and instability, threatening regional and international security.
Cairo constantly renews its call for an immediate halt to the military escalation, to exercise the utmost levels of restraint, to initiate an approach to international consensus and the rules of good neighborliness and respect for the sovereignty of states, and to give priority to the paths of dialogue and diplomacy.
A field tour conducted by an Egyptian official provoked the feelings of citizens, after he criticized a school principal and dismissed another principal, in light of the lack of capabilities and inefficiency of their two schools.
This tour sparked widespread interaction, amid criticism of the official as being authorized to confront these crises, in exchange for admiration for the director who defended herself, confirming that she addressed the responsible authorities and did not receive a response, until she was forced to “spend her own money on facilities.”
The controversial incident began on Monday morning with a tour by the Governor of Qalyubia, Hossam Abdel Fattah, to a number of schools in the cities of Kafr Shukr and Benha, where he decided to exclude the director of the “Burqta Preparatory School” who came to him wearing a robe. When the governor denounced his appearance, the director responded that he was working in the school with his own hands in maintenance and cleaning work due to the shortage of workers.
The governor then went to the “Martyr Ahmed Samir School,” where he was received by its director, Salha Abu al-Fadl, who responded to the governor’s criticism about the absence of a security personnel and the lack of vital facilities, saying: “I brought electricity, water, and gas to the school with my own money.”
The governor denounced her response, saying: “I will hear you, but do not make me feel that you are spending on the government.” “This is not talk that will convince a young child.” The director only showed several papers and correspondence that she sent to the local authorities in the governorate asking for help regarding the lack of services and the lack of a security personnel, without a response, the last of which was immediately before the minister’s tour.
The school principal’s position received the sympathy of citizens who defended her. Thousands of comments were written about her “heroic” stance of emotional stability before the official and her spending on services in spite of bureaucracy and the lack of financial allocations. Many demanded that she be honored, including the journalist specializing in education and influencer on social media, Ahmed Hafez, who said: “Oh Minister of Education, this is a good teacher who stood before the governor of Qalyubia with all dignity, strength, and pride. She was able to say it in front of all the cameras.” According to public opinion, I did my job, and every official in the governorate I turned to did not do so.”
Other comments on the incident called for similar positions of principals assuming responsibility for repairing schools and classrooms at their expense, while the tour raised questions among others about the feasibility of field trips for the purpose of “photography,” without the official having studied the conditions of the places he goes to, and knowing nothing about them.
The governor had accompanied reporters from a number of press sites during the tour, footage of which appeared on a live broadcast. Critics of the governor also noticed the suspension of a “speaker” in his suit, especially when cameras captured his voice, which they considered additional evidence that the goal of the tour was “media appearance.”
Field trips by officials have previously sparked controversy and criticism, the last of which was about a month ago when the Doctors Syndicate complained to the government about the governor of Qena for reprimanding and dismissing a hospital director during his tour. However, the latest incident sparked widespread reaction.
Lawyer Hassan Shoman believes that the governor’s tour included several legal violations, the first of which was “excessive use of the authority of oversight and public disparagement of a public employee,” explaining to Asharq Al-Awsat that the governor, as a representative of the executive authority, is tasked with supervising facilities, “but within the limits of the law and the principles of administrative governance; Expressing statements that belittle a public employee in front of his subordinates and the public contradicts the code of professional conduct for employees of the state’s administrative apparatus.”
He added that photographing and publishing publicly is suspected of defaming a public employee, especially since “the official does not have the right to punish the employee momentarily without conducting an investigation into the violation, so photographing and publishing the incident before the investigation is considered defamation, especially if the employee suffers material and moral damage as a result.”
Some criticism dealt with the governor’s use of a colloquial word meaning “unclean,” in the context of his conversation with the school principal, commenting on papers and waste found in one of the corners, saying: “How do I teach the children about cleanliness if I am (unclean),” which they considered a transgression against the principal, and an insult for which she must be held accountable.
The criticism was not limited to the incident of the school principal, as some of them criticized his employee along with the middle school principal who decided to exclude him, and some of those who know him personally confirmed that he is diligent in his work, including Member of Parliament Amr Darwish, who said in a statement, Monday, that the school principal is “one of the most competent and honest principals, and on the personal level he is one of the people of good manners with a good reputation.”
Darwish added: “I know for sure the governor’s desire and keenness to impose administrative discipline, commitment, and work to avoid all shortcomings to ensure a safe environment for students, and everyone supports him.” But the schools of the village of Burqa need decisive decisions that hold those who are negligent accountable regarding the inefficiency of the schools to receive our students... The personal efforts made by school principals, not only at the level of Qalyubia, but extending to all governorates, are appreciated, respected and grateful.”
In the face of the torrent of criticism, the governor said, in statements to local media on Tuesday, that the school principal was not relieved of his position because of his wearing the robes, “but rather because of his failure to act and his failure to seek support from any concerned party, and his contentment with the position of a spectator in the face of the school’s observations and shortcomings.”
Regarding the school principal, he said that she “did not submit documents proving that she paid those amounts from her own money,” pointing out that no action was taken against her because she “officially addressed the educational administration more than once to reach urgent solutions to the problems in the school.”
An employee’s spending of his own money on a public interest is considered a procedural financial violation, according to Attorney Shoman, and it is called “spending outside the approved budget and the official documentary cycle,” pointing out that it is common despite this in villages in light of the lack of allocations, and pointing out that “the administrative judiciary does not consider it a violation if the spending is necessary.”
