Three main issues dominate the election coverage of both state- and privately-owned newspapers.
The first has to do with the ongoing process to select National Democratic Party (NDP) candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections, including a significant discussion around the selection of female candidates through the women’s quota system.
The second concerns the Muslim Brotherhood’s participation in the elections, especially the internal debates over the movement’s decision to participate, and the degree to which its participation poses a challenge for the NDP.
The third has to do with debates concerning electoral monitoring and questions surrounding the government’s sincerity with regard to guaranteeing the integrity of the electoral process. Finally, several papers discuss international attention to the elections.
There is a great deal of disparity in newspaper coverage of the NDP’s internal elections for its parliamentary candidates. While state-owned Al-Ahram’s coverage is primarily logistical in nature, privately-owned newspapers, such as Al-Dostour, and even state-owned Al-Gomhorriya, highlight the fierce competition for NDP candidacy, concerns over the fairness of the selection of candidates, and potential splits.
State-owned Al-Ahram reports that the NDP secretariat will hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss several issues, including conferences to select female quota candidates set to begin next Sunday and to continue until the end of October. According to the report, the NDP’s secretary-general, Safwat al-Sherif, announced that the results of electoral councils match public opinion data.
Al-Gomhorriya reports that the NDP faces fierce competition from independents and defectors from the NDP in the southern governorate of al-Wadi al-Gadid, due to the favoritism of the secretary of the governorate.
Mohammed Seif Mohmmed Khamis, for instance, insists on running as an independent despite NDP efforts to convince him to go through party primaries. Khamis is reported as saying that NDP leaderships do not work toward the public good and ignore young cadres.
On its final page, Al-Dostour reports that Ahmed Ezz, the NDP secretary of the organization, is considering not naming any particular NDP candidates in two districts in the coastal city of Damietta, to allow for some flexibility in terms of fielding in candidates.
State-owned newspapers adopt a dismissive tone with regard to the participation and electoral prospects of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Al-Gomhorriya reports on its front page that Moufid Shehab, Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, made a statement to the effect that there is nothing called the Muslim Brotherhood and any candidate running under its name will be excluded by the electoral commission.
Referring to the Muslim Brotherhood as the “outlawed,” Shehab added that the movement will not gain as many seats as it did in 2005, because legal opposition parties did not have a strong presence then. This is no longer the case in the upcoming elections, where citizens who do not cast their vote for the NDP will cast it for legal opposition parties instead, he said. Further detracting from the Muslim Brotherhood’s electoral chances, according to Shehab, is the dismal performance of its 88 members of parliament who have neither achieved anything for their voters nor contributed to the drafting of any new laws. And, while the NDP lost several seats in 2005 because of lack of party discipline, this is no longer a problem, he is reported as saying.
State owned Al-Akhbar reports a very similar story (except for the last point) on part of its election page. Curiously, state-owned Al-Ahram makes no mention of the story.
State-owned Al-Ahram does however report (on its election coverage page) that Nile Delta city Menouf residents gave a lukewarm reaction to a decision by the “outlawed Brotherhood” to run against Ahmed Ezz, NDP secretary of organization. According to the report, Ezz’s status and wealth had nothing to do with his election in the district, twice, in 2000 and 2005 respectively, since he had not yet become secretary of organization.
In addition, Ezz gained ground in the district because of his refusal to accept bribes and attempt to educate residents on sustainable development. In sum, the report assures its readers that Muslim Brotherhood competition is not a threat to Ezz, since religious slogans will not appeal to the district’s “rational youth.”
Privately-owned Al-Dostour reports on its front page that the Muslim Brotherhood has decided to allocate LE40 million for two of its candidates (Ibrahim Hagag and Sobhi Saleh) who will be competing against Ezz in Menouf, and Abdul Salam Mahgoub, Minister of Municipal Development, in Alexandria, respectively.
The Muslim Brotherhood has also decided to support its former head of parliamentary bloc Saad al-Katatni (pledging LE20 million) in Minya, and Saad al-Hussaini in Mahalla, who faces fierce competition from an NDP candidate there, to ensure their victory.
Finally, electoral transgressions and government claims to guarantee the integrity of the elections figure prominently in today’s papers.
Several papers (including Al-Wafd, and Al-Dostour), report on Shebab’s statements with regard to electoral monitoring. He effectively argues that civil society organizations in Egypt should shoulder the responsibility of electoral monitoring and use the opportunity of parliamentary elections to perform their legal role.
Shehab also asserts the neutrality of the electoral commission, and argues that no country in the world involves judges in electoral monitoring, requiring them to perform a job that falls below their status.
Al-Wafd focuses more attention however on international coverage of Egypt’s elections in The Economist and the Guardian, both of which condemn the Egyptian government’s restriction of the media and its failure to heed international calls to allow international observers.
Egypt's papers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhorriya: Daily, state-run
Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run, close to the National Democratic Party's Policies Secretariat
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party
Youm7: Weekly, privately owned
Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
