Twitter newbie: Egyptian President Mursi dedicates first tweet to martyrs

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi on Saturday logged what he said was his first post on Twitter, which he dedicated to martyrs of the Egyptian uprising last year and to the people of Syria.

His verified account on the microblogging website had previously been flooded with what appeared to be news written about him, but not by him.

In his first tweet, Mursi wrote: “Want to dedicate 1st tweet to martyrs of #Jan25 revolution and brave #Syrians... Muhammed #Morsi.”

The move is in line with Mursi’s ever-growing social media bubble, within which he also has used his official Facebook page to publicize a meeting he had on Thursday with a group of almost eighty artists, intellectuals and actors, the deputy prime minister of Cyprus and the foreign ministers of Malta, Italy, Greece, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, Mursi’s tweet mention of “brave Syrians” reaffirmed his stance on the 18-month long conflict which was expressed at meeting in Cairo last week of Arab League ministers.

The president had said it was time for the embattled Syrian regime to step down.

“The Syrian people have made their voice clear,” he said, and, in a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, insisted: “You will not be around for long.”

Meanwhile, Mursi is also being watched closely from another online tool, monitoring how close the premier is working on internal Egyptian affairs, rather than foreign. 

Social media watchdog website “Morsi Meter” is continuing to monitor the Mursi’s achievements and how they measure up to the 100-day pledge he made before he assumed office earlier this year.

With only 29 days left to tick off more than 60 pledges he promised to fulfill during his first 100 days in office, time is running out. 

The website that has been monitoring Mursi’s performance since his first day in office, said only three of 64 pledges made during his electoral campaign has been so far implemented.

The website “Morsi Meter,” which scrutinizes the 100-day plan Mursi put forward to the Egyptian people before the elections, reported that during the first 61 days only three pledges have been fulfilled:

1. Promoting and rewarding police officers who prove to have played a major role in restoring law and order in their areas.

2. The removal of objects blocking roads and pathways.

3. Launching campaigns to spread awareness about a clean environment in the country. One campaign launched by Mursi has been named “A clean homeland.”

The “Morsi Meter” plan was made up of five categories, monitoring the premier’s initiatives on traffic, security, fuel, bread and the country’s environmental cleanliness. Under each category, a series of solutions were proposed to solve the problem. All those solutions are supposed to be implemented by the end of the president’s first 100 days. 

So far, Mursi’s initiative to reward police forces, has been the only ticked-off pledge under the security category. Other promises in the category include combating cases of thuggery across the country, which have largely erupted since the mass uprising in 2011, and launching a project for the rehabilitation of criminals.

The website lists another 23 tasks as being “in progress.”