EGYPT IN THE CRISIS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 94, 15 January 1936, Page 8

EGYPT IN THE CRISIS

Egypt has been a source of anxiety to the British Government almost from the beginning of the Italo-Abyssiniau crisis. Since acquiring her position of independence she has been jealous of British interference, and since the crisis developed has been inclined to resent Britain’s naval and military concentrations at Alexandria and in the proximity of the Libyan frontier. These activities, of course, were initiated with the approval of the Egyptian Prime Minister..Nessim Pasha, after formal consultation with the British High Commissioner. Nessim Pasha, however, is regarded by the opposition and the extremist faction as a pawn in the hands of the British. Before the crisis developed a strong agitation was being carried on for the restoration of the Constitution of 1923 and of full representative Parliamentary government. The Prime Minister has ru'ed the country by decree, without constitutional government. Had there been no trouble in the Mediterranean it is probable that the Constitution would have been restored, partly, at any rate, but the crisis altered the situation. The British Government would not in the circumstances agree to any change. In a speech in November last Sir Samuel Hoare, then Foreign Secretary, denied that the British Government was opposed to the return to Egypt of a ‘'constitutional regime suited to her special requirements,” but a section of Egyptian opinion insisted that this concession should be made at once, and not deferred. Egypt, it was contended, should be treated as a sovereign nation in alliance with Britain, and that this alliance should be documented by a formal trea:y to be ratified by a representative Egyptian Parliament. Htese dissensions have provided opportunities for Italian intrigue in Egypt which has caused some unrest among extremists, eager at, any time to exploit opportunities of fomenting anti-British feeling. Experience has shown that the British Labour Government under Mr. Ramsay MacDonald went too far in its instalment to the Egyptians of constitutional government. Those who opposed the concessions feared just such a contingency as that which has now arisen, namely, that in a Mediterranean crisis it might be difficult to control events in Egypt. It is obvious, having regard to Britain's interests in the Sudan, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, Palestine, the Red Sea. and India, that she must at all times be in a position to take a strong line with Egypt if necessary. The forces of sedition in that country are very active, and at times difficult to control. Hence the suspension of the Constitution some time ago when their agitations threatened to get out of hand.