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Cairo: When Farouq Geweida, a popular poet and writer known for his outspoken criticism of the government's policies, penned a series of articles against what he branded as "mafia" of the state-owned land, he did not expect to be punished for his opinion.
Weeks after the articles were published in a leading Cairo newspaper, Geweida's nomination to be on board of the governmental Higher Council of Culture was blocked without reasons. Names of members of the prestigious think-tank are suggested by the Minister of Culture and approved by the Prime Minister.
"Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni informed me of the nomination three months ago. But when the list of the appointees was announced late last month my name was not there," said Geweida, also known for his anti-US poems.
"I don't know for sure the actual reason behind my exclusion. Though it was not among my ambitions to be a member of the council, it would be worrying if the reason were my views," Geweida told the private Dream TV.
Hosni, who is Egypt's candidate for Unesco's top post, has denied media reports that Geweida was excluded due to his anti-government writings.
"The issue has been blown out of proportion by portraying the situation as though the government punished Geweida for his opinions," said Hosni in press remarks last week. "There are many intellectuals, opposing the government's policy, who have been awarded prestigious state prizes."
Hosni's argument has left several Egyptian intellectuals unimpressed, though. "Prime Minister [Ahmad Nadeef] has exposed himself by dropping a writer of the calibre of Geweida from the list of nomination," said Osama Okasha, a dramatist and writer.
"Nadeef has lent credence to every word written by Geweida that the government had squandered large plots of state-owned land by offering them to local and foreign entrepreneurs for paltry sums of money," Okasha told Gulf News.
In his articles, published in the semi-official newspaper Al Ahram, Geweida said that some government officials, whom he did not name, were involved in questionable land deals, thereby "committing a heinous crime against people".
The government has ordered the deals be reconsidered.
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