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Elections
Egypt's NAC Calls For "Friday of Regaining Honor"
![[Image from unknown archive]](/content_images/3/sm_yasqot....jpg "[Image from unknown archive]")
The National Association for Change (NAC) has called on all Egyptians to demonstrate in Tahrir Square and in different parts of the country protesting the “crime committed near the Cabinet by the military”, referring to violence against women specifically in the recent attack on Tahrir Square. The NAC’s statement called on all Egyptians to march peacefully to “regain Egypt’s honour”. The statement emphasised the important role women played in the January 25 Revolution, adding that in return women’s rights have been ignored since the revolution and undermined by the military council and Islamist parties. The statement called for mass demonstrations to condemn “the ...
Keep Reading »The Strike Wave and the Crisis of the Egyptian State
![[Egyptian teachers on a national demonstration outside parliament in Cairo on 10 September 2011. Photo Credit: Anne Alexander.]](/content_images/3/sm_egyptanne.jpg "[Egyptian teachers on a national demonstration outside parliament in Cairo on 10 September 2011. Photo Credit: Anne Alexander.]")
The explosion of huge protests across Egypt in the final week before the first round of the parliamentary elections on 28th and 29th November, demanding the rapid transfer of power from the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), brought into the open millions of Egyptians’ growing anger with the military leaders who have governed the country since February. The uprising followed weeks of rising tensions between revolutionary activists and the military. The massacre of demonstrators demanding an end to the oppression of the Copts at Maspero was followed by the murder of Essam Ali Atta in Tora prison. On 31 October, well-known blogger and activist Alaa ...
Keep Reading »Interview with Shahira Abouellail on the Eve of the Egyptian Elections
![[Image by Hossam el-Hamalawy]](/content_images/3/sm_yasquthukmil-`askar.jpg "[Image by Hossam el-Hamalawy]")
[This interview was conducted on November 22nd, on the eve of the first round of elections] As the first stage of post-Mubarak Egyptian Parliamentary elections begin today, the second wave of the Revolution continues in Tahrir Square and throughout Egypt. After a massive demonstration on Friday, 18 November 2011, calling for an end to military rule, about 200 people, mainly family members of martyrs who died in the January 25 uprisings and people who were previously injured, staged a sit-in at Tahrir Square. Central Security Forces and Egyptian military police violently dismantled the sit-in, and since then, thousands have come together to reoccupy Tahrir Square. The ...
Keep Reading »Ghad Al-Thawra Party (Hizb Ghad Al-Thawra)
![[Image from unknown archive]](/content_images/3/sm_ghad.jpg "[Image from unknown archive]")
Ghad Al-Thawra Party (Hizb Ghad Al-Thawra) The liberal Ghad Al-Thawra (‘The Revolution’s Tomorrow’) Party is most commonly associated with its founder, Ayman Nour, who famously ran against then incumbent President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential election. The party was originally licensed in 2004 under the name Al-Ghad Party, but it was sidelined from the political scene during Mubarak’s last years in office due to internal splits and legal battles. It reemerged again as a licensed political party on 9 October 2011 under the name Ghad Al-Thawra Party (hereafter referred to as the Ghad Party). Before the Revolution Under the name “Al-Ghad” (Hizb Al-Ghad), ...
Keep Reading »Carter Center Preliminary Statement on the First Round of Voting in Egypt’s People’s Assembly Elections
![[Image from unknown archive.]](/content_images/3/sm_Egyptvoting.jpg "[Image from unknown archive.]")
[The following press release was issued by The Carter Center on 2 December 2011 in regards to the first round of Egypt's 2011 parliamentary elections.] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dec. 2, 2011 CONTACTS: Atlanta, Deborah Hakes +1 4044205124 Cairo, Sanne van den Bergh +20 1013511710 Carter Center Preliminary Statement on the First Round of Voting in Egypt’s People’s Assembly Elections The Carter Center deployed witnesses to observe two days of polling on Nov. 28-29 in the first of three rounds of Egypt’s parliamentary elections, as well as the preceding election preparation period. Carter Center witnesses visited more than 300 polling stations in all ...
Keep Reading »Elections in the Midst of Revolution
![[Tahrir Square on 30 November 2011. Image Source: Hossam el-Hamalawy, http://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy/]](/content_images/3/sm_TahrirSquare.jpg "[Tahrir Square on 30 November 2011. Image Source: Hossam el-Hamalawy, http://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy/]")
The resurgence of mass demonstrations in Egypt, in Tahrir Square and beyond, has raised many question marks in the minds of outside observers about what has often been described as “Egypt’s democratic transition.” Many question how Egypt will be able to advance its so-called journey toward democracy when the persistence of demonstrations and extended sit-ins seems to be “stifling” Egypt’s first post-Mubarak elections scheduled to commence today and last for three months. This perception happens to coincide with the SCAF-sponsored narrative that these demonstrations are simply a conflict between Tahrirists—who do not want the elections to happen because of their limited ...
Keep Reading »On the Fast-Track to An Electoral Train Wreck
![[Tahrir Square on 20 November 2011. Image from EPA]](/content_images/3/sm_trainwreck.jpg "[Tahrir Square on 20 November 2011. Image from EPA]")
Since the very start of the current wave of renewed unrest in Egypt, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has repeatedly insisted that the country’s parliamentary elections—scheduled to start on Monday 28 November and run through January 2012 in three regional rounds—would continue as planned, irrespective of the circumstances. Egypt’s generals seem serenely confident that a silent majority of citizens is with them and that any delay in the electoral timetable would spark waves of anxiety far beyond Tahrir Square. They might actually be right; many Egyptians are deeply weary of post-revolutionary uncertainty and eager for any plan that promises a rapid ...
Keep Reading »Freedom and Justice Party
![[Freedom and Justice Party logo. Image from unknown archive.]](/content_images/3/sm_FreedomandJustice.jpg "[Freedom and Justice Party logo. Image from unknown archive.]")
Freedom and Justice Party The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political party of the Muslim Brotherhood, could not have come into being without the 25 January revolution. Up to that time, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Egypt’s most powerful Islamist organization, was not only denied the right to form parties, but also barred – at least legally – from political life. As a result, the group had to pay a heavy price in detentions and repression to practice politics under the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak. The group had been trying to get a foothold in the country’s political arena for decades but was met with entrenched opposition by the Mubarak regime, which ...
Keep Reading »Lax Security Stirs Up Pessimism Over Egypt’s Parliamentary Elections
![[More riots to come? Egyptian anti-riot policemen block the way in front of a polling station in El-Dakahlia, Egypt, during 2010 elections. Image from AP]](/content_images/3/sm_laxsecurityahram.jpg "[More riots to come? Egyptian anti-riot policemen block the way in front of a polling station in El-Dakahlia, Egypt, during 2010 elections. Image from AP]")
Egypt is in dire need of a new parliament to push forward the transitional period, but considering the protracted security vacuum, parliamentary elections might turn out to be a step backward. The eagerly-awaited parliamentary elections will finally give the answer to the question of which of Egypt’s plethora of new revolutionary parties will win a larger piece of the pie. They may all lose out, though, as there is wide concern that the deteriorating security situation on the street might scare constituents into voting for the old regime through the new parties they established and are hiding behind. Since the popular uprising that toppled autocratic president Hosni ...
Keep Reading »Liberals and Leftists Say Islamists Bribed Poor People with Meat to Get Votes Over Eid
Islamist food donations exploited the religious festival for electoral gain, say leading liberal candidate for parliament Amr Hamzawy as well as leaders of the leftist Revolution Continues electoral bloc. The Salafist Nour Party's press office in Qena said the party distributed two tonnes of meat in the governorate during the four-day span of the Islamic holiday of Eid El-Adha, and would prepare more free food bags for the poor over the coming days. The party also announced it had distributed over 1000 free gifts to children in cooperation with their sister missionary associations, Daoa El-Salafiya, in the impoverished Upper Egypt governorate. The party said it also ...
Keep Reading »With Polls Around Corner, Egypt Gripped by Election Fever
![[A photo showing Gamila Ismail, a leading figure in the democracy movement in Egypt. Image from Ahram Online]](/content_images/3/sm_electionfever1.jpg "[A photo showing Gamila Ismail, a leading figure in the democracy movement in Egypt. Image from Ahram Online]")
More than 15,000 candidates - including numerous holdovers from the former ruling NDP - have registered to take part in Egypt's upcoming parliamentary races. With electoral campaigns scheduled to begin on Tuesday, more than 15,000 candidates are gearing up to vie for seats in Egypt's first post-Mubarak parliament. By the time the official candidacy registration period ended on Monday, a record number of would-be candidates had registered for next month’s polls for the People’s Assembly and Shura Council, the lower and upper houses of Egypt’s parliament. Initial figures reveal that more than 15,000 candidates in total registered for the contests, both as independents ...
Keep Reading »Egypt Elections Watch: Use with Caution
![[Revolutionaries besiege the Egyptian parliament. Image Source: Hossam el-Hamalawy, http://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy/]](/content_images/3/sm_EEW1.jpg "[Revolutionaries besiege the Egyptian parliament. Image Source: Hossam el-Hamalawy, http://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy/]")
In a context in which emergency law, military trials of civilians, official bans on workers strikes and demonstrations, state use of violence against peaceful protesters, and frequent detention of political dissidents are all prevalent, it is hard to look at the upcoming parliamentary elections in Egypt with anything but a healthy dose of skepticism. For many observers, these elections signify a historic moment for Egyptians and a monumental step in their so-called transition to democracy. According to such perspectives, Egyptians will finally be allowed to vote in multiparty elections that are not managed by deposed President Hosni Mubarak or his ruling party, the ...
Keep Reading »Islamist Parties Braced to Pick Up More Seats in Egypt's 2nd-Round Runoffs
Runoff elections for the second round of Egypt’s first post-Mubarak parliamentary polls kicked off on Wednesday and will wrap up on Thursday. Initial voter turnout rates in the early hours of Wednesday’s polling appeared modest, but are expected to rise in the afternoon. Overall, 118 independent candidates – competing for fifty-nine individual seats – qualified to compete in the runoffs. Voters on Wednesday will also cast ballots for party lists in three constituencies in the governorates of ...
Keep Reading »Egypt and Yemen Developments: Interviews with Hossam Bahgat and Atiaf al-Wazir
Recently, the international media’s attention was on Egyptian revolutionaries asking for the military junta to step down; But as news that the parliamentary elections were about to precede as planned, attention shifted to what the political structure in the Egypt of the near future and in the long term will look like. But What about myriad of issues human rights and Tahrir activist raised in the post Mubarak regime? Professor Saba Mahmoud spoke with Hossam Bahgat, founder and director of the Egyptian ...
Keep Reading »Nationwide Vote for Party-Coalition Lists (Stage 1)
Party/Coalition List Votes % Votes Freedom and Justice* 3565092 36.62321885 Al-Nour** 2371713 24.3639615 Egyptian Bloc 1299819 13.35268647 Al-Wafd 690077 7.088973018 ...
Keep Reading »Ziad Al-Eleimi
Ziad Al-Eleimi Ziad Al-Eleimi is a founding member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party. He is also a lawyer, human rights activist, founding, and leading member of the Revolution’s Youth Coalition (RYC). Before the Revolution Al-Eleimi’s involvement in politics began early in his life, being the son of Ekram Yousef, a prominent student activist in the politically turbulent 1970s. Thus, by his teenage years, Al-Eleimi was already involved in social and political struggle. During his law school ...
Keep Reading »Des elections au milieu d'une revolution
La réapparition de manifestations massives en Égypte, sur la place Tahrir mais aussi ailleurs dans le pays, a soulevé, pour les observateurs et observatrices extérieur-e-s, beaucoup de questions au sujet de ce qui a été souvent décrit comme « la transition démocratique de l’Égypte« . Beaucoup se demandent comment l’Égypte pourra progresser dans son « voyage vers la démocratie » quand la persistance de manifestations et d’occupations longues paraît « empêcher » les ...
Keep Reading »Tunisia's Election Results and the Question of Minorities
Now that the votes have been tallied and the victors of Tunisia’s 23 October elections have been announced, the country’s Constituent Assembly is finally beginning to take shape. With the blue ink still fading from Tunisian voters’ index fingers, all eyes are fixed on the composition of Tunisia’s first independent governing body, and speculation is rife – especially since the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party has secured slightly more than forty percent of the Assembly’s seats. After decades of ...
Keep Reading »Remember, Remember, the 25th of November: Morocco's Elections and Reforms
On 1 July 2011, Moroccans took part in a constitutional referendum, resulting in what is now Morocco's sixth constitution since 1962. Similar to previous constitutions, direction was taken solely from the pinnacle of Moroccan society, leaving the majority voiceless. Members of the February 20th Movement, inspired by pro-democracy movements in neighboring countries, immediately announced their decision to boycott the referendum, citing the undemocratic nature of the process through which the constitution ...
Keep Reading »Several Political Figures and Coalitions Boycott Campaigning After Police Crackdown in Tahrir
In response to a police clampdown on protesters in Tahrir, several coalitions and political figures suspended their campaigns for Egypt's parliamentary elections this month. The uncertainty surrounding the parliamentary elections was fuelled on Sunday after several coalitions and political figures protested the government’s violent tactics against the roughly ten thousand protesters on Saturday by boycotting campaigning. Police’s rough tactics to disperse protesters camping out in Tahrir Square ...
Keep Reading »Final Court Decision: Mubarak's Party to Compete in Egypt's Coming Elections
After conflicting judgements from lower courts, a final higher court verdict has ruled that former NDP members could not be banned from competing in the upcoming elections. With Egypt’s first post-revolution parliamentary elections two weeks away, the battle lines have started to become clear. In addition to Islamists and secularists, the loyalists of former president Hosni Mubarak’s defunct ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) are set to be a major force. Unlike previous years when they were ...
Keep Reading »Egypt's Communist Party to Boycott Parliamentary Elections
Party statement attributes its decision to the affect that the ruling military council and Islamic forces have had on political and security conditions in Egypt. The Egyptian Communist Party has announced they will be boycotting parliamentary elections due on 28 November. The Communists Party is also calling on other parties and political forces to do likewise, asking them to prioritise the transitional period in order "to save the revolution." The committtee said in a statment published ...
Keep Reading »In Historic Ruling, Egyptian Court Confirms Voting Rights for Millions of Expats
The Administrative Court, responding to a lawsuit and a demand by millions of expats, said on Tuesday Egyptians living abroad can vote in the country's elections in world embassies and consulates. More than 120 countries around the world currently allow their expatriate citizens to vote in national elections and referenda whilst abroad. That list includes Tunisia, whose citizens stood in long queues outside Tunisian embassies around the world last weekend to vote in the first democratic elections the ...
Keep Reading »Announcement of Voter Registration for Palestinian National Council (PNC) Elections
[The following announcement was released by the Facilitation Office for a Civic Registration Drive, an independent civic initiative in support of national efforts for democratic Palestinian elections to the PNC.] Public Announcement of a Civic Registration for Direct Elections to the PNC By the spring of 2012 an internet register for the secure online registration of Palestinian voters everywhere will be completed and ready for use. Palestinians can then register themselves as well as assist others to ...
Keep Reading »Hot on Facebook
His poems will be read with admiration and awe, but perhaps it’s time to forget about Adunis the cultural critic and radical intellectual. The Arab Spring has consigned Adunis, the self-proclaimed revolutionary, to irrelevance. And that is the beauty of revolutions.click | email | tweet
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