PoliticsEgypt: Military junta: Disqualifies 3 leading Prez candidates and 7 more out of 23

Egypt's military junta has arrogated to itself the role of arbiter for acceptable candidacies to the office of the country's President, after the displacement of former dictator Hosni Mubarek.  The Presidential election is scheduled for May 23-24.

An interesting development in the wake of the junta's action is the possiblity of a split between two potential candidates with Muslim Brotherhood backgrounds.  A third MB figure is among the leading disqualifieds, Khairat el-Shater (English spellings vary), who had been incarcerated as a criminal under the previous Mubarek régime.  At first the Brotherhood had planned not to run any candidate at all, which incensed a prominant member to leave the organization, Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, currently Secretary-General of the Arab Medical Union, and considered by some to be "a moderate."

   Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh Abdel Hady

Dr. Fitouh left the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing called the Freedom and Justice Party (headed by Mohammed Mursi).  After the MB's externally-sudden shift from non-contestant in the election to favour the running of its own candidate, it nominated as well an alternative but emphasized Kairat el-Shater as its first choice.  The Brotherhood was aware of El-Shater's disfavour with the junta, since the Mubarek days.

  

   Kairat el-Shater

Pictured in a photo (above, AP photo by Nasser Nasser), El- Shater on Friday called for "a million-man march" to "the [public] squares of liberation again to complete the march of the revolution."  The cagey MB, named alongside El-Shater alternative candidate Mursa in order to have a back-up plan;  apparently he had gained no  criminal status.

   

   Omar Suleiman

Another of the 3 leading disqualifeds, Omar Suleiman was "spy chief" for Mubarek and briefly served as stand-in when Mubarek was forced to stand down.  Suleiman has h+ standing with the junta, as a result, but low esteem among Islamicists and Salafists.

The third of the leading candidates dumped by the military thru its puppet electoral commission is Hazen Abu Ismail who is "an ultra-conservative Salafist," an Islamicist ideology which woud impose a strict and punitive Sharia-law régime.  Civil r+ts woud be curtailed severely, and the extermination of Christians and homosexuals seem to be major intentions.  In comparison, the Muslim Brotherhood is somet+ms laid out as "pragmatic Islamicism" — evoking a parallel to the ruling Islamicist party of Turkey, the latter also in conflict with its military over secularism.  But the comparison between ideological puritianism and Muslim pragmatism does not hold up well.  

   Amr Moussa, World Policy Conference, December 2k11

Interestingly, while the 3 and another 7 have been disqualified, another figure, one active in government under Mubarek,  Amr Moussa, had left his post as foreign minister to become Secretary-General of the Arab League (which itself is now trying to end Syrian govt repression, after the organization had largely supported the previous Egyptian repression under Mubarek, and that of Sudan before the secession of South Sudan).  The junta disqualified anyone who had been part of the Mubarek régime during the last 10 years; Moussa changed posts 11 years ago.  So he has not been disqualified (yet) from running.  Among all the candidates, he seems most l+kly to work for internal peace in Egypt, including perhaps a more conciliatory approach to the country's 6 million Christians who are largely on the outs+d of the political process, living in dread of an Islamicist repression that seems to be waiting in the wings.

Also, at this juncture, the process of wr+ting a new Constitution for the country has been delayed; Parliament has not been assembled, and the 100 member commission for Constitution wr+ting is being boycotted by the 2-person delegation to represent Christians, becawz the process is considered by them and many secularists, to be a sham.  Individual and communal liberty will not be guaranteed to those not locked into the Islamic fortress-mentality.  (On this, please see ForeignPolicy.com, Apr16,2k12); also ComparativeConstitutions.org email newsletter, Apr16,2k12.)

At present, refWr+t is endorsing a Muslim non-Islamicist, Amr Moussa, for President of Egypt.

— Politicarp, refWrite's frontpage politics columnist

Follow @Owlb, refWrite frontpage general editor

Cross-posted to refWrite-experimental.

Main news sources & background materials: 

"Mass protests brewing in Egypt, after 3 leading Presidential candidates are disqualified," by Patrick Goodenough (Apr16,2k12) CNSnews.com

"Egypt's transition imbroglio" by Nathan Brtown (Apr16,2k11) Foreign Policy via ComparativeConstitutions email newsletter

Wikipedia — articles on Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, Omar Suleiman & Amr Moussa

YouTube (see refWr+t's YouTube collection of politics videos yUT2ube — subscribe!)

PoliticsEgypt: Parliamentary Vote: Stage 3 of the historic voting will include Egypt's rural areas and some urban centres in the midst of these

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"The Corner" feature of National Review (December 15, 2k11)
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Hat Tip to Dr. Paul Marshall; thanks to author Samuel Tadros
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The Egyptian Elections:  What to Expect in Round 2 December 13, 2011 4:03 P.M. By Samuel Tadros On Wednesday and Thursday, Egyptians will head to the polls for the second stage of the country’s lengthy parliamentary elections. Unlike the first stage, which included Cairo and Alexandria, this stage will take place mostly in the countryside. So far the Islamists have won 69 percent of the seats in the first stage. This result will be repeated in the second stage with an increased percentage. The Islamist tsunami will only gain strength as it moves into more friendly districts. In the second stage, nine Egyptian governates will be voting to elect 180 members of parliament. Those governates will include for the first time the heart of the Nile Delta, Monofia, Sharkia, and Behira. They will also include Giza, with its urban and rural districts, the Suez Canal governates Ismailia and Suez, as well as the Bani Suif and the southern governates Sohag and Aswan. Providing more proof of how chaotic the electoral process has been, the election commission has indicated today that it will implement a court order stopping party-list elections in Behira’s 2nd, Sohag’s 2nd, and Monofia’s 1st districts, representing 24 seats. In those areas voters will only vote to fill individual seats. Party-list elections in those areas will be take place simultaneously with the runoff elections for the individual seats next week. In preparation for the second stage, and after the shock of their terrible performance, the non-Islamist parties have attempted to offer a unified front to counter the Islamist onslaught. The main non-Islamist parties have agreed on a list of candidates to back on the individual seats, while each maintain their separate lists on the party list seats. This will be the test of their combined power, though it is quite doubtful that it will be of any actual value. Please read the complete article ...

PoliticsEgypt: 2nd place party: Even more Shariah-supremecist than Muslim Brotherhood, the hardline Salafists of the al-Nour Party gain 25% of votes

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Christian Post (December7,2k11)
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Salafi party plans to bar Christians 

from executive posts in Egypt

By Sami K. Martin | Christian Post Contributor

The Salafi al-Nour party may have come in second during the recent Egyptian elections, but they feel as though they have already won and are planning big changes for the country.

The Muslim Brotherhood actually won this round of elections, but the Nour party took 25 percent of the votes, giving them a noticeable presence in the new government. They intend on using any and all influence to bring the country back to its religious roots.

One of the biggest changes will be the implementation of Shariah law, which many commentators say would set the country’s progress toward democracy backwards.

Spokesman Yousseri Hamed told reporters: “The mechanism of democracy suits me, like elections and ballot boxes to choose my representative. The idea that the people make their own laws and decide what is prohibited and what is permitted, we reject that.”

Salafists rigorously adhere to the Quran and push for an extreme version of Shariah law not often seen in most other Islamic groups. According to reports: “Salafis follow a puritan school of Islam that was revived in Egyptin the 1970s by university students.”

It emerged in the political scene not long after President Mubarak was overthrown. Many political analysts fear that democracy may not proceed if Islamic parties win power. Others felt the elections would be overwhelming and Egyptians would vote for the party most known and familiar.

PoliticsEgypt: Parliamentary Elections: Early results of the vote show Islamicists winning

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NYTimes (November30,2k11)
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Early results in Egypt: 

 

Mandate for Islamists!

"CAIRO — Islamists claimed a decisive victory on Wednesday as early election results put them on track to win a dominant majority in Egypt’s first Parliament since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, the most significant step yet in the religious movement’s rise since the start of the Arab Spring.", 

says David D. Kirkpatrick, correspondent for NYT in Cairo, Egypt.

Read this early report on the Egyptian vote count, still in process ....

PoliticsEgypt: Parliamentary Elections: Polls now closed, Christians fear Freedom and Justice party Muslim-Brotherhood-dominated Shariahist5s

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Christian Science Monitor (November29,2k11)
—Reposted by Politicarp
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Today Egyptians are wrapping up the first of several rounds of voting for the first Egyptian parliament since the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak. Two-thirds of the parliamentary seats will be chosen via a proportional list system, and the other third will be chosen as individual candidates.
Every voter will choose two candidates from their governorate and one local list of candidates, often including candidates from multiple parties. The more votes a list gets, the more candidates on its list will be in parliament.

Below are the options facing Egyptians as they go to the polls. 

- Ariel Zirulnick, Staff writer

0 and 0

The Democratic Alliance for Egypt 

The Democratic Alliance for Egypt, which counts among its members the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), was the first electoral coalition to emerge after Egypt’s uprising. The alliance extended an offer of membership to every party in Egypt, and began with 28 parties. Its membership surged to 40 at one point, but has since dropped to 11 [parties] and is now dominated by the FJP.

According to Egypt Elections Watch – produced by online magazines Jadaliyya and Ahram Online with the Arab studies programs at Georgetown University and George Mason University – the FJP tops the Alliance’s electoral lists. 

The FJP is fielding more than 500 candidates in the parliamentary elections, compared with only 16 from Al Karama Party and 15 from Ghad Al-Thawra. These are the only significant parties other than FJP that are left in the alliance, according to Egypt Elections Watch. 

Some prominent parties who were initially members left the coalition:

• Al-Wafd Party
 – this liberal party left the coalition in October, saying that there wasn’t enough room for both parties on the Alliance’s electoral lists; the incompatibility between the FJP’s Islamist agenda and Al-Wafd’s secular emphasis created problems.

• Al-Nour Party

– this Salafist party said it left because it was being “marginalized” by the liberal parties in the Alliance’s decisionmaking process; some observers say it actually left because the Brotherhood was crowding out its candidates at the top of the lists.  

– this Salafist party said it left because it was being “marginalized” by the liberal parties in the Alliance’s decisionmaking process; some observers say it actually left because the Brotherhood was crowding out its candidates at the top of the lists. 

"The Copts should blend into Egyptian society and there should not be a religious symbol (in politics) that would influence people's decision," said Emad Abdel Ghafour, head of the ultra-conservative Islamist Salafi Al-Nour party." -- See Reuters article below "Egypt’s Christians seek to be heard in election where Islamists favoured".

• Democratic Front Party
– said it left because a partnership with Islamist groups violated its principles

• Al-Tagammu Party
– objected to Islamist members’ calls for the establishment of an Islamic state and sharia

• Egypt vote is on, despite deadly protests. How will the Muslim Brotherhood do?
• As Egypt votes, a surprising calm. But real test still to come
• View all lists

Previous | Next

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Reuters Blog (November 29, 2k11)
— Reposted here by Politicarp

Egypt’s Christians seek to be heard

in election where Islamists favoured

NOV 29, 2011 13:03 EST

 
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EGYPT MUSLIM ISLAMIST COPTIC CHRISTIAN ELECTION INTERFAITH TENSION ATTACKS

(A Coptic priest queues to vote outside a polling station in the parliamentary election in Shubra neighbourhood, Cairo November 28, 2011. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic)

Coptic Christians are trying to make their voices heard in Muslim-majority Egypt’s parliamentary election, fearing Islamists could sweep in and deepen their sense of marginalisation.  Egypt’s Christians are reeling from a spate of attacks on churches since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February that they blame on Islamists.

An October protest over one such attack led to clashes with military police in which 25 [Coptic Christian] people were killed. This has deepened a feeling of isolation in a community that makes up about a tenth of a population of 80 million and whose roots in Egypt pre-date the emergence of Islam.

Fady Badie, like many Egyptians, voted for the first time in this week’s parliamentary vote, seen as meaningful unlike the rigged polls of Mubarak’s time. But one of [Fady Baidi]s main concerns was to dilute the Islamist vote and voice his other worries.

“For sure Copts are afraid of this prospect (of Islamists in parliament). We have problems with the military council (of rulers), problems with Islamists and, now this year, we have found we even have problems with the general public,” he said, speaking during voting in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. “If the democratic process is challenged and what happened in Iran happens in Egypt, then I will start really worrying,” he said, adding that he was choosing the Egyptian Bloc alliance, which includes a party co-founded by a Christian billionaire [he's a telecom/media executive-owner].

The alliance that includes the Free Egyptians party of prominent Christian telecoms tycoon Naguib Sawiris is a popular choice among Christians and some liberal-leaning Muslims who are equally concerned by the rise of Islamists.

But the Bloc has drawn unwelcome attention. Supporters blame Islamists for what they say is a smear campaign to deter any Muslim voters from choosing it because of images posted on Facebook saying it is: “The voice for the Egyptian church.”

It reflects growing sectarian tensions in a nation where rights groups say flare-ups between Muslim and Christian communities that were increasingly common before Mubarak’s ouster have now erupted into even more deadly violence.

Read the full story by Maha El Dahan and Marwa Awad here.

PoliticsEgypt: Parliamentary Elections: Voting begins

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Huffington Post (November 23, 2k11)
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Egypt Elections: Voting 

begins in 1st parliamentary 

polls since historic revolt

CAIRO -- Voting began on Monday in Egypt's first parliamentary elections since longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising nine months ago.

The vote is a milestone many Egyptians hope will usher in a democratic age after decades of dictatorship.

But the ballot has already has been marred by turmoil in the streets, and the population is sharply polarized and confused over the nation's direction.

Still, the vote promises to be the fairest and cleanest election in Egypt in living memory. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and best organized group, along with its Islamist allies are expected to do well in the vote.

Voters stood in long lines outside some polling centers in Cairo well before they opened at 8 a.m. local time, a rare sign of interest in political participation after decades of apathy created by the mass rigging of every vote.

"I am voting for freedom. We lived in slavery. Now we want justice in freedom," said 50-year-old Iris Nawar as she was about to vote in the district of Maadi, a Cairo suburb.

"We are afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood. But we lived for 30 years under Mubarak, we will live with them too," said Nawar, a fist-time voter.

In the upscale neighborhood of Zamalek, some 500 voters waited in line outside a polling station at a school. Shahira Ahmed, 45, was there with her husband and daughter. Like Nawar, Ahmed had never cast a ballot before.

"I never voted because I was never sure it was for real. This time, I hope it is, but I am not positive. The most important thing is to have a liberal and a civilized country, I mean no fanatics," she said, alluding to the Islamists, who hope their domination of the next parliament will bring them closer to realizing their dream of creating an Islamic Egypt.

PoliticsEgypt: Medicine: Muslim Brotherhood wins voters thru its clinics

BBC (July11,2k11)

 

11 July 2011 Last updated at 18:19 ETHelp

Elections have yet to be held in Egypt since the revolution that saw —President Mubarak deposed, leaving ordinary Egyptians in the dark about their future.

All eyes are now on the elections scheduled for September. Dozens of parties have been formed, including one linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Banned under President Mubarak, its years of charitable work have given it a head start.

George Alagiah reports.

PoliticsBorder: Egypt-Gaza: Open border established for Hamas terrorists

Washington Post (May25,2k11)

Egypt to permanently 

open Rafah border 

crossing for 

Palestinians, easing 

Gaza blockade

but Israel is thereby threatened by the Hamas 

terrorists now governing the Gaza political 

entity.

-- Wapo headline posted by Politicarp with my comment in red.