[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Egypt and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Egypt Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week`s roundup to egypt@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]
Elections
Egypt`s electoral marathon to begin Tuesday
The parliamentary elections, which were originally set to be held in March and April, will begin in October
Over 2700 parliamentary hopefuls submit papers on first day of registration: HEC
Candidates wishing to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections, whose first stage is set to begin 17 October, can register between 1 and 12 of September.
Egyptian electoral coalitions falter as candidate registration moves ahead
Non-Islamist political parties are struggling to finalise their candidate lists.
Despite prior ban, Ezz could re-nominate himself for election: HEC official
Ezz — former secretary general of toppled President Hosni Mubarak’s dissolved National Democratic Party — was accused of orchestrating vote-rigging and electoral fraud in the 2010 parliamentary elections.
Candidates clash while registering to run in parliamentary elections
Al-Masry al-Youm reported that many prominent former NDP figures registered for the elections. These include former NDP parliamentarians Hussein Megawer and Haidar al-Boghdady, as well as Mubarak’s former Social Solidarity Minister Ali Meselhy in Sharqiya and businessman Magdy Ashour.
Social Democratic Party leader resigns in tense pre-elections climate
Declaring he could no longer “work in these conditions,” the head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party resigned on Thursday, the latest of several party leaders to recently step down as internal disputes intensify ahead of the parliamentary elections.
Political Rights
Egypt seizes five Muslim Brotherhood affiliated publishing houses
A committee tasked with appraising and freezing the funds of the organization said in an official statement on Tuesday.
What`s next for the Muslim Brotherhood?
Ahram Online reports on signs of growing radicalization within the Muslim Brotherhood.
Al-Tahrir journalists begin sit-in to protest Egyptian paper`s shutdown
Journalists of privately owned Egyptian newspaper Al-Tahrir began an open-ended sit-in on Tuesday, protesting the closure of the daily paper and demanding that it remain under any circumstances.
Egypt`s Court of Cassation keeps top Muslim Brotherhood members on terrorism list
Egypt`s Court of Cassation decides to keep the groups` general guide and seventeen Muslim Brotherhood members on terrorism list
Three members of Egypt Council for Human Rights say Aqrab prison report `distorts reality`
Three members from Egypt`s semi-governmental National Council for Human Rights withdrew from the council’s meeting on Wednesday in objection to a report issued by the council praising treatment of inmates by jail authorities after an inspection visit by council members to the prison last Thursday.
Morsi told EU diplomats in 2012 Egyptian Salafists wanted to destabilize his rule: Clinton emails
Egypt`s ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi told EU diplomats in 2012 that protests at the American embassy in Cairo in September of that year were orchestrated by Salafists who did not approve of his policies and wanted to destabilize his government, Hillary Clinton`s emails revealed.
Egypt`s top prosecutor releases seventy-seven pro-Morsi detainees on medical grounds
The seventy-seven detainees were arrested during the clashes between Pro-Morsi supporters and security forces in Giza governorate.
Egyptian court sentences twenty-five Morsi supporters to life in prison
A Sohag criminal court convicted and sentenced on Thursday twenty-five Morsi supporters to life in prison on multiple counts of murder and the arson of a church in 2013 following the violent dispersal of the pro-Morsi sit-ins in Nahda and Rabaa squares by security forces.
Egypt`s Salafist Call expelled members supporting violence: Borhamy
"I also condemn the media smear campaign against leaders of the Salafist Call ahead of the parliamentary elections," he added in a press statement.
Pro-Brotherhood cleric Qaradawi referred to Egypt`s military prosecution
Egypt`s prosecutor-general referred on Saturday thirty-five Muslim Brotherhood supporters to the military prosecution service, including prominent Islamist preacher Youssef El-Qaradawi, on charges of murdering a police officer.
NCHR`s favorable review of al-Aqrab prison sparks controversy
Many rights activists and lawyers were dismayed by the account, accusing the council of wearing rose-colored glasses during their visit to the facility.
Muslim Brotherhood leader dies in Egypt prison
“Hosni Diab died in a prison hospital after his health had deteriorated,” defense lawyer Khaled al-Komi told Anadolu Agency.
Egypt court releases full ruling in Al-Jazeera English case
The ruling says the three defendants were by default members the banned Muslim Brotherhood group, which Egyptian authorities consider a terrorist organization.
Musicians Syndicate head announces ban on `revealing clothes`
The Musicians Syndicate banned female singers from wearing "revealing clothes" during live performances on stage and in music videos on Monday reported Al-Arabiya, amid a wave of court cases against female performers for "immoral behavior."
Update: Two-seven years for civilians in first of three military trials
The verdict pertains to the trial of seven students and a professor from Mansoura University, who were all arrested on campus in 30 October 2014.
Exemption of officers`, judges` children from university regulations slammed
A recent decision to exempt children of judges and police officers from the geographic distribution rule when applying to universities has continued to spur controversy, as public figures contest its constitutionality.
Is the Brotherhood turning to violence?
An exclusive in the privately owned daily Al-Shorouk last week announced that seven groups within the Muslim Brotherhood have paid allegiance to the Islamic State, raising concerns that the group is abandoning its official non-violent approach.
Egyptian state continues to squabble with foreign media
Foreign journalists received mixed signals from the State Information Service (SIS) on Monday, when its Press Center issued a statement stipulating a week’s notice for any requests or queries by journalists before publication, before quickly issuing another statement a few hours later.
Calls to protest church`s alleged financial corruption and divorce laws refused
Authorities refused a request on Monday from a group of Coptic activists for permission to demonstrate in front of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Families of detainees refute national report on their treatment in prison
Families of Aqrab prison inmates say their kin are often mistreated and in some cases tortured, as well as subjected to intentional medical neglect, which has led to the death of four inmates in the past three months.
Economy
Egypt`s population grows by over 3.5 million since 2014: CAPMAS
National census authority numbers show 1.5 million more Egyptians since January 2015.
‘Not the time for protests,’ Egypt’s PM says ahead of tax employee demonstrations
Egypt`s Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab said Saturday night that "we are not in a time of strikes or sit-ins but we are in a time of building a state," hours before tax employees nationwide are scheduled to protest a new civil service law on 3pm Sunday.
Latest meeting with PM on Civil Service law fails
Workers from the Egyptian Tax Authority have called for a meeting to discuss ways in which to escalate their protests after the latest meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb on Tuesday failed to address their demands concerning the controversial Civil Service law.
A force divided: Interpreting the police protests
Maha Abdelrahman analyzes the upsurge in protests by low-ranking police officers.
Protesting conscripts and civil servants: Cracks in the regime’s support system?
Mada Masr examines the implications of the rise in protests and strikes by key groups of the state bureaucracy.
Foreign Policy
Head of US Air Forces Central Command visits Egypt
"Our military-military collaboration is an important part of the wide-ranging engagement we enjoy together," said Lt Gen Brown in the statement, adding that he was reaffirming “the United States’ steadfast support for Egypt in its fight against terrorism in the Sinai and throughout the country”.
Cairo court postpones ruling on suit designating Turkey, Qatar as supporters of terror
An Egyptian court rejected a similar lawsuit in March 2015
US State Dept features Sanaa Seif in campaign for women prisoners
Activist Sanaa Seif is among twenty women featured in the US State Department’s new campaign calling for the release of female political prisoners.
US reconsiders presence in Sinai following attack on MFO troops
The fate of the US contribution to the Multinational Force of Observers (MFO) in the Sinai Peninsula is growing more uncertain after a bomb attack injured four American peacekeepers on Thursday.
Domestic Security
Blasts in Egypt`s Sinai injure six peacekeepers, including four Americans: Pentagon
Six soldiers including four Americans were injured on Thursday in two blasts in northeast Sinai caused by improvised explosive devices, the Pentagon said.
US Embassy in Cairo dispatches new travel warning
The US Embassy in Cairo issued a travel alert on Thursday warning Americans not to stray outside the major metropolitan areas of Cairo and Alexandria, or from major tourist destinations.
From Jadaliyya Egypt
Trade Unions and Dictatorship in Egypt
Brecht De Smet and Seppe Malfait interview a group of Egyptian activists and writers on the current state of the labor struggle and trade unionism in Egypt.