Coll 15/1 'Egypt Affairs: General Situation 1931; Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, 1936' [‎55r] (110/493)

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Watanist party leader refused to be persuaded to withdraw his resignation,
despite Nokrashy Pasha’s efforts to get him to do so. The internal discords within
the Cabinet were further exposed in early December when Nokrashy and Makram
Pashas quarrelled over the question whether the former should proceed to London
alone for informal discussions with His Majesty’s Government on the treaty issue
or whether an official delegation should be sent for formal treaty revision negotia-
gjjions. The dispute was referred to the consultative committee of elder statesmen,
who finally decided that an official demand should be addressed to His Majesty’s
Government for the opening of negotiations with a view* to treaty revision. This
result was clearly a triumph for Makram Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , who had skilfully outmanoeuvred
his Prime Minister. Before the year closed the Cabinet was further reduced by
the resignation of Sheikh Moustapha Abdel Razek Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , who became Rector of
el Azhar, and there was a prospect that Mahmoud Ghaleb Pasha’s ill-health would
shortly cause a vacancy in the Ministry of Public Works. At the same time five
Saadist Deputies significantly announced their resignation from the Saadist
party, among them Dr. Hamed Mahmoud, a former Minister of Health, who
had long been disgruntled owing to' his not having been offered a portfolio
in the successive coalition Cabinets. This brought the number of resignations
from that party within the year to fifteen. Thus at the end of the year the
political atmosphere was most unsettled and, despite a general lack of confidence
in the Prime Minister and his coalition, the Palace, unwilling to contemplate
any radical change, seemed unable to devise any solution more salutary than a
reconstruction of the weakened and depleted Cabinet. It is noteworthy that
Egyptian political circles, according to a reliable observer, were baffled by the
embassy's complete abstention from intervention in this situation.
11. As had been indicated in Nokrashy Pasha’s letter to King Farouk
accepting the premiership, it was a cardinal point of this Government’s policy
to safeguard public security. The omens for success looked anything but favour
able. The assassination of Ahmed Maher Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. was symptomatic of a growing
disrespect for law and order. Social and economic instability was already
imposing a severe strain on the administration as the transition from war to
post-war conditions proceeded. In these circumstances, the late Ahmed Maher
Pasha’s liberalising tendencies as regards political internment were regarded as
premature and after the change from the drastic methods of Nahas Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. the
elements of disorder were not slow to raise their heads again. Following Ahmed
Maher Pasha’s assassination, Nokrashy Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. reversed the process and lost no
time in arresting the leading elements of potentially subversive organisations such
as the Young Egypt party, the Moslem Brethren Society and the extremist wing
of the Watanist party. He also took the precaution of banning the meetings of
these societies. His Majesty’s Ambassador repeated to Nokrashy Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. a warning
previously conveyed to his predecessor regarding the infectiousness of political
assassination and the advisability of prompt punishment as a deterrent. Lord
Killearn also represented to the Prime Minister the value of social reform
as an antidote to popular unrest. Nevertheless, manifestations of disorder
occurred from time to time throughout the year in various forms—^students’
strikes, surreptitious dissemination of Communist propaganda, a strike in the
railway workshops, the explosion of a hand-grenade near Nahas Pasha’s car,
the riots which began as anti-Jewish demonstrations on the anniversary of the
Balfour Declaration (the 2nd November) and the increase of insecurity in the
provinces, especially in Upper Egypt. The traffic in firearms, mostly brought in
from the battlefield of the western desert, continued on a large scale which the
security authorities seemed powerless to reduce. Not only was there no effective
check on the importation of weapons in this irregular way, but the provincial
populace was able to defy with impunity the efforts of the authorities to enforce
legislative control over the possession of firearms. The task of the authorities
in trying to cope with this problem was made all the more difficult by the fact that,
whereas these illicit weapons were of the most modern military types, the Egyptian
security forces were mostly armed with ancient weapons which were quite
unserviceable for the purpose of imposing respect for the law upon well-armed
peasantry. This widespread possession of arms is a new and dangerous factor in
Anglo-Egyptian relationship, for, in the event of anti-British disorders on an
extensive scale, the disorderly elements might be more difficult to handle than in
1919 when they were mainly unarmed. Shooting incidents also occurred in which
British soldiers were the victims. The repressive measures taken against the
extremist organisations mentioned above had, of course, to be relaxed when martial
law ceased to operate. The Government and also the Palace were really more