'Morsi Meter' tries to keep Egypt's leader on toes

When Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi came to power, he promised voters that he would achieve 64 goals by the end of his first 100 days in power. But a little over 30 days into his term, a new website says he has achieved just one of those goals.   

The website - the "Morsi Meter" - is inspired by PolitiFact.com's "Obameter" for U.S. President Barack Obama and is breaking new ground in a country that for decades had no tangible means and little appetite to hold Hosni Mubarak and his autocratic predecessors to account.   

"We have the power. Therefore, we need to track what he is doing. At the end of the day, he is an employee serving the state, one whom we can hold to account," Amr Sobhy, one of the website's founders, told Reuters in an interview.   

"This idea helps change the concept in people's minds of what the presidency is. We need to start treating the president as someone that we chose," the trendy 24-year-old pharmacy graduate, who has been working in the digital industry, added.   

Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, assumed office on June 30 after an election widely regarded as Egypt's first freely-contested vote.    He won it by a narrow margin in a runoff against Mubarak's last prime minister in a contest that divided Egypt, something that placed him under more pressure to try and quickly win over those displeased with his victory.   

Morsi, whose surname can be transliterated from Arabic differently, faces serious challenges - over a year of unrest has left the economy on the rocks, the law and order system is showing severe signs of stress, and he has inherited a utility system already struggling to deliver basic services such as electricity and water.   

Morsi's 100-day plan focuses on such issues as improving distribution networks for subsidised bread, boosting security on the streets, and decongesting the country's clogged roads.   

So far, the "Morsi Meter" says he has completed just one goal of the 64 he set himself - raising media awareness about public cleanliness.   


REUTERS