Since taking over as culture minister less than a month ago, Alaa Abdel Aziz has captured local headlines. He has generated massive controversy with a flurry of surprise decisions, which have infuriated the nation's intellectual community. His first decision was to change the name of a series of books published by the state-run Egyptian General Book Organisation from the ‘Family Library' to the ‘Revolution Library'. The covers of the books published as part of this series used to carry the picture of Egypt 's former first lady Suzanne Mubarak. Critics, including the chairman of the organisation affiliated to the culture ministry, accused the new minister of superficiality and taking the decision without discussing it with those responsible for the books. Unfazed, Minister Abdel Aziz went ahead in sacking the organisation's head and in replacing chiefs of other agencies affiliated to his ministry. The latest target was Inas Abdel-Dayem, whom the minister removed from her post as the chairperson of the Egyptian Opera House despite her reportedly efficient management and popularity. Abdel Dayem's dismissal proved to be the last straw for many Egyptian intellectuals, who accuse Abdel Aziz of promoting the Brotherhood's agenda to allegedly change the nation's cultural identity. Since Abdel Dayem's sacking last week, dozens of big-name artists, musicians, filmmakers and writers have staged a series of protests. Several performers have suspended their scheduled shows at the Opera House, demanding Abdel-Dayem's reinstatement. The cast of the famous opera Aida stopped their performances in a show of solidarity. Some die-hard art personalities demand Abdel Aziz be replaced and threatened unspecified escalatory measures if their demand is not met. Abdel Aziz sticks to his guns, though. He vowed in several Press and TV interviews to go ahead with what he called moves to "purge the ministry of corruption" and to "spread spirit of the revolution everywhere". He added that he is fully backed by the Islamist-led Government in carrying out his policy, which he denied is being pursued at the Brotherhood's behest. Hitting back at his detractors who dismiss him as an obscure academic, Abdel Aziz said in a recent interview: "I'm proud of this. Those who staged the January 25 revolution (against Mubarak) were obscure." The showdown is the latest sign of cultural shifts and struggle over the national identity in post-revolution Egypt.
