The security department at Cairo University has prepared a report on the candidates running in the upcoming faculty elections, classifying them according to their political inclinations, thus reviving a practice common in Egyptian universities during the rule of the former President Hosni Mubarak.
According to anonymous sources, the report describes certain candidates as either "liberal" or "Islamist," while others are labelled "unpopular" or as opponents of the university administration.
The report has classified Professor Ahmed Abdel Ghany as being against the administration, Professor Sameh al-Alaily as a moderate liberal, Professor Abdel Mohsen Barada an anti-Islamist, and Professor Medhat Talha and Professor Mohamed Mady as members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Other candidates were classified as not having any particular political inclinations.
The compilation of the report ahead of the elections, which are to take place later this month, is viewed by some as a sign that the university administration aims to unfairly influence the outcome of the poll.
During the Mubarak era, university adminstrations were known to use such information to rig elections in favor of their preferred candidates and against their enemies, often relying on security departments with active links to the State Security Investigations Service.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
