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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Books Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The scramble begins
By Gamal Essam El-DinSome five million voters will head to the polls on Wednesday to elect 150 representatives to the People's Assembly. A total of 1,262 candidates have their hearts set on parliamentary seats. In casting their ballots, citizens will face difficult choices. Three types of battles have taken shape: politics versus business, business versus business, and politics versus politics. Families with traditional footholds in the political sphere are being challenged by prosperous members of the new business elite; old money is running against new money. However, the most extraordinary development is that in a number of constituencies brothers will be vying for the same seat.
The balloting, the first of three stages of parliamentary elections, will be held in nine governorates: Alexandria, Beheira, Menoufiya, Ismailia, Port Said, Suez, Fayoum, Sohag and Qena. Run-off elections will be organised on 24 October. In the second and third stages, starting on 29 October and ending on 14 November and including 17 governorates, the remaining 294 representatives to the Assembly will be elected. The total number of candidates running in the three stages has reached 4,116.
In the first stage, candidates will include 150 for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and 80 for the Wafd Party. The remaining 1,032 are candidates for other opposition parties and independents. The hopefuls include 34 women, 10 Copts and around 20 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood running as independents. It is in the first stage that "politics versus business" will be manifest in Menoufiya governorate's district of Al-Bagour. Kamal El-Shazli, minister of state for parliamentary affairs and the NDP's assistant secretary-general, will be confronted by Wafdist business tycoon Mohamed Kamel.
"Politics versus business" battles will also be fought in at least 10 constituencies, especially in the governorates of Alexandria and Port Said, in the first stage. In Alexandria's district of Sidi Gaber, Tarek Talaat Mustafa, son of veteran NDP parliamentarian and business tycoon, Talaat Mustafa, will face Ibrahim Abdel-Malek, secretary-general of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party for Alexandria. Also in Alexandria's districts of Al-Attarin and Ghorbal, Ahmed Khairi, secretary-general of NDP's Alexandria bureau and a business tycoon, will run against Benyamin Mansour, a Coptic lawyer; while Esmat Nathan, an NDP Coptic candidate, will face the Wafd's Ashraf Hamed.
In Ismailia, Mahmoud Osman, an NDP candidate and son of the late multi-millionaire Osman Ahmed Osman, will face Lamia' Sabri Mubadda, a candidate of the leftist Tagammu Party.
In Port Said, Abdel-Wahab Quta, an NDP candidate and chairman of the governorate's Businessmen's Association, will run against Wafdist journalist Mohamed Sherdi.
The "business versus business" battles are expected to be fierce, as well. In Menoufiya governorate's district of Menouf, Ahmed Ezz, an NDP candidate and a business tycoon who monopolises 60 per cent of national steel production, will run against Ibrahim Kamel, a multi-millionaire who was MP for Menouf between 1990-1995. Also in Menoufiya governorate, NDP candidate Abdallah Tayel, chairman of Misr Exterior Bank, will face an uphill battle against Maged Abdel-Ghaffar, who belongs to a large land-owning family.
In Port Said, Mohamed El-Masri, an NDP candidate and chairman of the Port Said Chamber of Commerce, will run against Hamed El-Shennawi, a businessman and owner of a tourist village. El-Shennawi is the only businessman who was excluded from the official NDP list of candidates. Another battle will rage between business tycoons Mahmoud Sobh and Ragab El-Shennawi in Port Said's district of Port Fouad.
The "politics versus politics" battles will involve rival candidates belonging to families with traditional footholds in parliament.
In Upper Egypt's governorate of Sohag, at least eight candidates who hail from such families are running. Among them is Sameh Ashour, the sole representative of the Nasserist Party in the outgoing parliament, who is facing his brother Farouk, the NDP candidate, in the constituency of Saqolta. In Sohag city, Hazem and Sameh Hammadi, sons of the late parliamentarian Ahmed Hammadi, will be vying for the same seat. Also in Sohag city, brothers Ahmed and Mahmoud Abu Heggi, will be fighting for the workers' seat. The NDP's Ahmed Abu Heggi was implicated last year in a shooting incident against police. In Sohag's Dar Al-Salam district, Abdel-Rehim Radwan, son of Abdel-Hamid Radwan, a former culture minister and one of the NDP founders, will be facing a number of independents.
In Fayoum, independent Ahmed Sufi Abu Taleb, son of former speaker of the People's Assembly Sufi Abu-Taleb, will be facing the NDP's veteran MP Hussein Eweiss in the district of Tamia. The Abu Taleb family used to be Tamia's deputies for more than 30 years. In the Fayoum constituency of Ibshwai, Awatef Kahk, the NDP woman candidate for the workers' seat, will be facing her brother Omar, an independent.
In Alexandria's Al-Dekheila district, brothers Kamel and Abdel-Moneim Ragheb Deifallah will be competing for the fi'at (professionals) seat. Abdel-Moneim is the NDP candidate; Kamel is an independent.
The "politics versus politics" battles will also involve official NDP candidates and candidates who once belonged to the NDP but were excluded from the party ticket. An example is the confrontation between Omar Abu Steit, who was excluded after he was vilified in the outgoing parliament as a "hooligan deputy", and the official NDP candidate Mohamed Hilal.
The NDP candidates are also facing fierce battles against other types of opposition and independent candidates. In Alexandria, Widad Shalabi, the NDP candidate for the district of Al-Attarin, is running against a number of opposition candidates, including Omar Barakat, the Wafd Party's MP in the outgoing parliament, Abdel-Moneim Ismail, the Nasserist Party's candidate, and Kamal Ahmed, a veteran independent MP with Nasserist tendencies. In Alexandria's Bab Sharq, Mariam Mustafa, NDP candidate and a professor at Alexandria University's Faculty of Arts, will be running against Adel Eid, an independent lawyer with Islamist tendencies, and Farouk Rakha, once NDP but now excluded. In Alexandria's Al-Raml district, Jihan El-Halafawi, a candidate for the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood running independently, will be facing NDP candidate Sami El-Gindi, an Alexandria University professor.
Related stories:
Independents rule the poll 5 - 11 October 2000
Election fever 28 Sep. - 4 Oct. 2000
Last call 21 - 27 September 2000
See Elections 2000, The 1995 Elections
