The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1930. THE SITUATION IN EGYPT.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 July 1930, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1930. THE SITUATION IN EGYPT.

Tun resignation of the Egyptian Cabinet comes at an interesting juncture, it follows upon a conflict with King Fuad arising apparently out of his refusal to give his approval' to measures designed to consolidate the position of the Wald ami regarded as a challenge to the royal authority, As the Waitlists have hold an overwhelming majority of the seats in the Egyptian Chamber of Deputies the resignation of Kahns Paslm and his Ministers might appear to render a constitutional deadlock inevitable, It is re porter I Hint Ismail 8 Why Pnsbu. a lending economist, .Infs formed a- non-party Cabinet and intends to amalgamate

the pomite and, the Chamber. How this proposed arrangement—the alternative presumably to a dissolution of Parliament—may fare in view of the position occupied by the Wald may 7 well be a matter for conjecture, The political dominance and consequent self-as-sertion of the Waid lias again created a difficult nositioh. It will he recalled that Waitlist, tactics brought about the deadlock which resulted in the dissolution of the Egyptian Parliament about two years ago, following upon which the King and a Council of Ministers

headed by Mahmud Pasha carried on the government of tlie country. When pile Labour Government came into office in Great Britain negotiations were sot on foot with a view to reaching a settlement regarding the reservations embodied in the Declaration of 1922 respecting Egyptian independence, and, Mahmud Pasha visiting London, tile terms of a treaty which has been tile subject of much controversy were drafted. Malnmiu Pasha, returning to Egypt with a draft agreement which did not go far enough for them, received no cordial welcome from his political opponents, the Wafdists. He resigned, and when the elections for a new Egyptian Parliament took place the representative® of the organisation whirh stands for extreme Egyptian Nationalism carried all before them. Then followed the mission of Nahas Pasha to London and the recent protracted negotiations which broke down last month because the Egyptian Prime Minister and his advisers overplayed their hand. Their initial misconception of the position of Great Britain in the Sudan was thrown into strong relief, particularly when they insisted, as. a condition of their signature of a treaty, that the Anglo-Egyptian agreement of 1899 should be reviewed in all its aspects within a year. This and other ■ proposals relating to the Sudan could only he interpreted as aiming ah the -restoration /of the absolute Egyptian Sovereignty which collapsed, fortunately for the Sudan—with the Mahdist revolt. Through their attiture on this question the Egyptian delegates sacrificed an agreement which had been virtually reached on all other points. Whether the effect of their failure has been to create any breach tin the unity of the Wafdist party has not beep made apparent though the assertion has beep made that an important section of the Wafdists was ready to accept the agreement reached between Mahmud Pasha and the British Foreign Office. That draft agreement was generally reported to have really come as an agreeable surprise—as well it might—to great numbers of all classes. Meanwhile, as Air Henderson stated in the House of Commons’ a few days ago, the terms of settlement which the British Government has been prepared to concede to Egypt remain open for acceptance, as they stood at the close of the recent negotiations, but not indefinitely. Tbo position of Great Britain in Egypt remains, of course, unchanged by all these abortive negotiations, the status quo in both Egypt and the Sudan will be maintained, and the four reserved points—the security of British Imperial communications in Egypt, the defence of Egypt against foreign aggression, the protection of foreign interests and minorities in the country, and the Sudan—are still reserved. The Sudan will remain under the Anglo-Sudariese administration which its people have enjoyed since the eipl of 1924, and the Sudanese will be trained for eventual self-government without external interference or competition, So far as there is feeling within the Empire that Mr Ramsay MacDonald’s Government has gone too far in its offers to Egypt such feeling may find satis!action in the breakdown of the negotiations, In Egypt, on tbe other 1 hand, public opinion should .be capable of understanding where the responsibility' lies for the failure to accept the Briti; i Government’s generous proposals. Rut ponding further indications of the prospective outcome of the latest political developments it is difficult to foresee just what turn the situation in Egypt is likely to take.