EGYPT: A week ahead of Egyptian parliamentary polls campaigning is underway with Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party supporters out in force and independent candidate Gameela Ismail on the election trail

Record ID: 346419

  • Title: EGYPT: A week ahead of Egyptian parliamentary polls campaigning is underway with Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party supporters out in force and independent candidate Gameela Ismail on the election trail
  • Date: 22nd November 2011
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (RECENT) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING PAST STREET STALL SELLING EGYPTIAN FLAGS IN TAHRIR SQUARE CAIRO, EGYPT (NOVEMBER 17, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PRINT SHOP PRODUCING ELECTION POSTERS CAIRO, EGYPT (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ELECTION POSTERS ON CAIRO STREETS POSTERS FOR MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD'S 'FREEDOM AND JUSTICE PARTY' NEXT TO POSTER FOR INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE GAMEELA ISMAIL POSTER FOR GAMEELA ISMAIL CAIRO, EGYPT (NOVEMBER 15, 2011) (REUTERS) GAMEELA ISMAIL WALKING WITH CAMPAIGN STAFF THROUGH HER DISTRICT, GREETING CONSTITUENTS GAMEELA ISMAIL SPEAKING TO CONSTITUENTS TRUCK ADVERTISING GAMEELA ISMAIL'S CAMPAIGN DRIVING THROUGH HER DISTRICT (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR PARLIAMENT, GAMEELA ISMAIL, SAYING "Elections in Egypt today is different, because it has horizon. You have an open horizon in front of you. You didn't have horizon before, you could only see darkness in front of you. So today, yes, we are just on the first step, we're trying to take the ladder up. But there is a ladder." GAMEELA ISMAIL WALKING THROUGH FABRIC SHOPS IN DOWNTOWN CAIRO, GREETING CONSTITUENTS GAMEELA ISMAIL'S CAMPAIGN STAFF LEAVING LEAFLETS WITH SHOP OWNER GAMEELA ISMAIL SPEAKING TO SHOPKEEPER CAIRO, EGYPT (RECENT) (NOVEMBER 17, 2011) (REUTERS) SUPPORTERS OF 'FREEDOM AND JUSTICE PARTY' MARCHING IN GHAMRA MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD SUPPORTER CHANTING, SAYING - 'FREEDOM AND JUSTICE PARTY' SUPPORTER HOLDING UP PARTY BANNER, WITH SYMBOL OF BALANCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FREEDOM AND JUSTICE PARTY CANDIDATE FOR NORTH CAIRO, ASHRAF SAYYED KHALIL, SAYING "You (the voter) should not be negative, you should be positive, and you should go out and vote. You ought to be aware, and to read very carefully the election programs that are being offered to you. And you should vote for the person who has the most experience. You should elect the candidate who is honourable and not corrupt, the person who when he is elected, who will not insult your dignity the way it was insulted for the last sixty years." WOMEN SUPPORTERS OF 'FREEDOM AND JUSTICE PARTY' MARCHING PARTY SUPPORTER USING LOUDSPEAKER TO ENCOURAGE RESIDENTS TO SUPPORT THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS OF 'FREEDOM AND JUSTICE PARTY' MARCHING
  • Embargoed: 7th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt, Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8G1H38GF46J424MZ5O1XKITTZ
  • Story Text: With landmark Egyptian parliamentary elections a week away, the 'Screen Color' printing press in Cairo's Maadi neighbourhood is working overtime to crank out the election banners that now blanket the Egyptian capital.
    With violence between protesters and the police in parts of the country, killing at least 33 people, some are beginning to doubt whether the first election's since Mubarak's fall will bring about the political stability so many Egyptians crave.
    The Egyptian government said on Sunday (November 20) that the November 28 election would go ahead as planned and campaigning was well underway before the start of the protests.
    The November 28 ballot is the first part of a three stage vote for the lower house. Despite the frustrations and fears for the poll, what was effectively one-man and one-party rule in Egypt has been transformed by an array of new parties and voices since February.
    More than 15,000 candidates are expected to contend for 498 elected parliamentary seats.
    Posters across the country promote ultra-conservative Islamists repressed by Mubarak, the new liberal parties licensed since his ousting and the long-established groups, such as the Wafd Party.
    Many observers are saying the Egyptian elections will be a key bellwether for Islamist parties, notably the Muslim Brotherhood, who are widely expected to outperform their secular and liberal rivals.
    One of the candidates hoping to secure her spot in Egypt's emerging political order is long-time opposition figure Gameela Ismail.
    Ismail formally belongs to the Ghad party founded by her former husband, Ayman Nour, who took Mubarak on in the 2005 elections.
    Due to Egypt's complicated election system, in which a portion of the new legislature is elected on party lists and a portion through individual races, Ismail is choosing to run as an independent.
    As Ismail wooed voters in the Qasr al-Nil district where she faces a variety of challengers of various ideological stripes, she was optimistic that the elections could open the door to real change in the country.
    "Elections in Egypt today is different, because it has horizon. You have an open horizon in front of you. You didn't have horizon before, you could only see darkness in front of you. So today, yes, we are just on the first step, we're trying to take the ladder up. But there is a ladder," she said.
    Although its powers will be limited, parliament is likely to find itself battling over the shape of a new cabinet which the army has the power to pick and over the extent the army will seek to enshrine powers for itself in a new constitution.
    The new parliament will be responsible for picking a 100-strong constituent assembly which will write the new document.
    During a recent campaign rally, candidates from the Muslim Brotherhood's 'Freedom and Justice Party' met with voters in the 'Ghamra' neighbourhood of north Cairo.
    Secular and religious parties have been at loggerheads of the shape of a new constitution, with Islamist parties who expect to win a majority pushing for greater independence for Parliament to draft the document.
    The election frontrunners are undoubtedly the Muslim Brotherhood, the strongest opposition force during the Mubarak era when they were officially banned.
    The Brotherhood nevertheless were an established part of the political landscape and won 20 percent of the seats in the 2005 elections.
    Freedom and Justice candidate Ashraf Sayyed Khalil encouraged voters to remain positive despite the many crises facing the country.
    "You (the voter) should not be negative, you should be positive, and you should go out and vote. You ought to be aware, and to read very carefully the election programs that are being offered to you. And you should vote for the person who has the most experience. You should elect the candidate who is honourable and not corrupt, the person who when he is elected, who will not insult your dignity the way it was insulted for the last sixty years," he said.
    Earlier on Monday a coalition of political parties called for the elections to proceed on schedule. But while campaigning continues unabated, the build-up to the election has undoubtedly been marred by the intensity of clashes between protesters and the police and army.
    The violence has also made it likely that Egypt's political landscape will remain a battlefield regardless of which party wins the elections.
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