King Fuad and his Cabinet Palace influence is one of
many factors making politics in Egypt a complicated affair; and the turn of events in the past week leaves the situation more complex still. General and quite unjustified protests against the appoint- ment of an English adviser, Sir Geoffrey Corbett, to the Ministry of Commerce have been followed by the resig- nation of Ibrashi Pasha, the palace official who acts as intermediary between the King and Cabinet. The precise degree of influence exercised by Ibrashi over -King Fuad can only be surmised, but so far as it is true that the protests against the appointment of Sir Geoffrey by the Prime Minister, Nessim Pasha, were instigated from the palace, Ibrashi Pasha's resignation may be counted a victory for the Prime Minister. Now, however, the King has turned to the Nationalist Wafd, which demands an early general election. Nessim Pasha and his Cabinet are governing the country without a parlia- ment, and the Prime Minister's attitude towards the proposal for an election has not yet been disclosed. Its result would inevitably be a Wafdist success, and on the whole it is desirable that negotiations with this country should be conducted by Ministers speaking in the name of the electors. But whether if Wafdist Ministers did reach an agreement with Whitehall they would get it ratified by a Wafdist parliament is highly doubtful.
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