At the top of stories in today’s papers is the ruling military council's declaration setting the dates for the first post-revolution parliamentary elections.
State-owned Al-Ahram reports that the declaration, dated 25 September, stipulates that the first phase of elections for the People's Assembly, the lower house, will begin on 28 November. The elections will continue across the different governorates until 10 January and will be conducted in three phases. The upper house, the Shura Council, will have its elections on 29 January.
Amendments to the parliamentary elections law have caused consternation among political groups who are opposed to a single-winner system and want all the elections to be based on lists of candidates put forth by the various parties. Initially the law required a dual system in which half the MPs would be elected through the single-winner system and half through a list-based vote, but this week's declaration cements the change to a third and two-thirds, respectively.
The amendment has not satisfied many political forces, and privately owned Al-Shorouk reports that the Democratic Alliance – a bloc of 34 mainly Islamist political parties – plans to release a response to the new amendments within hours. The announcement has also prompted calls for a "Taking the revolution back" protest in Tahrir on Friday.
The other two major stories in today’s papers are the public transport workers’ strike and yet another explosion along the Sinai pipeline that carries gas to Israel. State-owned Al-Akhbar reports that Manpower Minister Ahmed Hassan al-Borai announced the transport workers' strike has been suspended for 15 days after the government agreed to review their demands. Except that the workers insist that the strike has not been suspended and will continue until Prime Minister Essam Sharaf signs off on bonuses and reviews the rest of their demands.
Leftist party paper Al-Wafd leads with the pipeline explosion – the sixth this year. The paper reports that six balaclava-clad men in an unmarked car were behind the blast, which left three people injured. The assailants allegedly placed an explosive under a section of pipe near a maintenance station near the town of Midan and then fled.
Another story that has piqued public interest is the video footage recently aired on state TV of Supreme Council of the Armed Forces head Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi parading the streets of downtown Cairo and pressing palms with the masses. The intriguing thing about the footage was that Tantawi was dressed in a suit, not his usual army fatigues.
Privately owned Al-Tahrir muses about the possible reasons for this left-field footage, reporting that the Tantawi walk took place Monday at 9 pm on Qasr al-Nil Street. Many people reportedly approached him, some with praise and others recounting personal or national problems. The paper reports that Tantawi’s stock response to all comers was a terse but friendly thanks.
The paper also quotes political analyst Ayman Abdel Wahab from Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in an attempt to decipher the impromptu visit. Abdel Wahab says that the visit coincides with the supposed end of the period of military transitional rule, adding that it means the military intends to stay on for a while more. He also rejects the idea that the stunt is a possible opening gambit for Tantawi’s presidential bid, as some suspect.
Cairo University political science professor Mostafa Kamel al-Sayed also discounted the presidential candidate theory, according to Al-Tahrir, and said the visit had many other messages. They were to show that the streets of Cairo were safe and also that the military was popular on the streets, in light of the opposition of political forces to their continued presence and the wish for them to return to their barracks.
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-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run
Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Youm7: Daily, privately owned
Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned
Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party
