-48-The Directorates, the Legislative Council, and the General Front. This idea is the idea of a man who governs and manages its affairs, but bringing it from thought to action in Egypt requires the elected masses to possess qualities they have not yet fully grasped. The country's politics in Egypt are confined to the affairs of that country, and the number of its people who care about matters outside those affairs is very small. It is customary for the people of each town to defend their own people or those who represent them, and their gaze is directed towards zeal. The country's mayors and sheikhs are now under much closer scrutiny than they were in the days of Lord Dufferin. Therefore, the objection to making them representatives of the country, to whom their people entrust their votes, has weakened compared to then. And lest I deny it, there is still much work for reform and improvement. Mr. Mather observed how this electoral system was implemented on special occasions that are rarely available to others, and wrote: "Whatever the superficial appearance of this system may be, like the system of the ruling nation, I am convinced that it was established with wisdom and prudence, and it is not advisable to interfere with it now. I have not heard people complain about it, although I have made an effort to find their grievances." I agree with this statement in general, because whatever the shortcomings and deficiencies in this system, the deficiency is not in the tools of the system itself, but in the underlying idea, because this European idea has not yet taken root in Egypt in the sense that Europeans understand it. This deficiency and shortcoming will not be removed by changing the arrangement of the tools of which this system is composed, as the need is not for much change in the functions of the current councils, nor for a fundamental change in how they are formed, but rather for an increase in the application of the method of education and training that Lord Dufferin referred to, and this method has been in place for many years. The opinion was that the best way to implement Lord Dufferin's original project was to stimulate Egyptian thinkers (members of the Legislative Council) so that they would express their opinions with complete freedom, and to show a willingness and inclination to accept their proposals whenever they could be implemented, and to use kindness and courtesy in explaining the reasons that necessitate rejecting their proposals. The nationalistic discourse of the people of Egypt should be heard in the Legislative Council, as it was at one time conducted with animosity and suspicion, and perhaps this was not intentional. (1) The mayor now holds the position of the country's leader in the days when Lord Dufferin wrote his report.