Despite Optimism, Little Progress on Doha Commerce Deal

In Davos, Switzerland, global trade officials tried to hammer out a deal that would ease restrictions on international commerce, but despite optimism there was little progress over the weekend. At the same time, some have already claimed that the meetings are little more than meetings of the international business elite, with little regard for the common man. To that end, protestors showed up outside the meetings, some holding signs that read, "Tunisia equals Cairo equals Davos." In the meetings themselves, there was concern over Egypt, where leaders urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to make sure that basic freedoms – most notably freedom of expression and speech – were upheld in his country.

Noted Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "I think that we have to see how things move today and, obviously, the key here is for President Mubarak to respond to the needs of his people in a way that is more directly connected to their frustrations, much more so than apparently yesterday’s speech succeeded in doing." Those comments came just after the Cabinet of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif had resigned on orders directly from Mubarak.

Salil Shetty, the head of Amnesty International, had some strong words upon learning of the members of the Cabinet resigning en masse, noting, "The idea of changing your cabinet is a bit of a joke. People are very clearly saying they want very fundamental change, constitutional change." Despite reporters talking of progress at the Davos talks, there is actually very little occurring at present, and there appears to be no timetable for an agreement.