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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 9 -15 November 2000 Issue No.507 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 9 -15 November 2000 Issue No.507
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters In the heart of the city
By Nadia Abou El-MagdThe diversity among the neighbourhoods comprising each of the electoral districts of Qasr Al-Nil and Bulaq Abul-Ela are paralleled only by the diverse approaches of the candidates running for their four seats.
From the entrance of the Gezira Club, to the tree-lined corniche at the island's north end, Zamalek's streets are dominated by posters bearing the smiling face of Qasr Al-Nil professional candidate for the National Democratic Party (NDP), Dr Hossam Badrawi. A renowned gynaecologist and public figure, Badrawi's placards; ubiquitous not only in Zamalek, but in Garden City, Al-Munira and Qasr Al-Nil neighbourhoods, carry upbeat slogans such as "Together for Egypt: with work we will achieve our hopes," and, "Your vote is the beginning."
Having mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the district's professional seat in 1995, Badrawi is the front-runner in this year's contest. In the last election Badrawi lost the seat to Yassin Serageddin, then the deputy chairman of the Wafd Party.
This time, Badrawi's position is buttressed by influential supporters. Al-Ahram columnist Salah Montasser wrote on Monday, "If I could, I would cast my vote for Dr Hossam Badrawi... who is imbued with youth, vigour and [a belief in] public service."
Badrawi, 49, believes that the "legislature is the main force capable of driving change for the better. It's about time that its negative image is changed," Badrawi told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Another young face running in the same constituency is journalist and publisher Hisham Kassem, 40, whose slogan is: "It's time for youth" and "Don't squander your vote, in order not to lose your rights."
Kassem, an independent and first-time candidate, said he is not personally canvassing in Zamalek or Garden City because he believes "the affluent inhabitants there don't go to vote at all." Instead, he is concentrating his efforts in Al-Munira and the working-class neighbourhoods of Sharkas and Ma'rouf. His message to the people in there is simple: vote to send a message to your representative that if he does not address your needs, he will lose.
In his three weeks of campaigning, Kassem has "rediscovered politics in Egypt," he told the Weekly. "There are no political parties in Egypt -- that includes the NDP -- and there are no grassroots movements other than the Muslim Brothers," he added.
Scriptwriter Fathiya El-Assal is the leftist Tagammu' Party's labour candidate in Qasr El-Nil district. El-Assal ran unsuccessfully in the 1984, 1987 and 1995 elections.
"I haven't spent a piastre [on the campaign]. All I have done is come and drink tea at Ma'rouf coffee shops and listen to people's complaints. Simple people believe in candidates who are truthful and honest with them," El-Assal told the Weekly.
Hundreds of El-Assal supporters chanted slogans praising the Tagammu' candidate at a campaign rally on Saturday night. "El-Assal knows what's right, she would say no to oppressors," and, "El-Assal is against Israel."
El-Assal's platform includes demanding a new tax law for artisans, a place for peddlers to sell their wares, an increase in subsidies on basic goods, more attention to popular housing and improvements to the deteriorating infrastructure in shantytowns. El-Assal is the head of the Tagammu's women's committee, so it is not surprising that women's rights are high on her agenda. She was in favour of changing the law requiring that a women have her husband's permission to travel abroad -- a law that the Supreme Court overturned earlier this week. Likewise she supports granting Egyptian women married to foreigners the right to pass their citizenship on to their children.
"I have known Fathiya for more than 30 years. She is better than 100 men," Gamal Mohamed, 50, car mechanic in Ma'rouf, told the Weekly.
Two other women are competing with El-Assal: Mona Qurashi, the Wafd's nominee for the workers' seat who ran and lost in 1995 elections and first-time candidate, independent Nafissa Abdel-Azim.
Attiyat Ahmed, 58, clothes shop owner said she will vote for El-Assal "because she is a real woman like me, and will ensure that our rights are upheld."
Bulaq Abul-Ela, which is separated by a bridge from Zamalek, is a uniquely socially diverse neighbourhood which includes as its inhabitants the very rich merchants of Wikalat Al-Balah as well as artisans of very limited means and many unemployed people. The area is known for its sophisticated social networks, as well as being notorious for its thugs, who have been particularly active at election time.
Against this rich backdrop, Amina Shafiq is running as the Tagammu's workers' candidate. A long-time journalist at Al-Ahram, Shafiq is a member of the National Women's Council established in February.
"I'm very happy with this [campaign] experience because it allowed me to see the depths of poverty in urban areas. I have written a great deal about poverty. Now, I'm seeing, smelling and feeling it," Shafiq told the Weekly. "If I succeed, I'll do my best to serve those people, if not, I'll write articles about their plight," she added.
Nadia Osman Ahmed, 45, street vendor in Bulaq, said she will vote for Shafiq in the hopes that the journalist will be able to get her a kiosk to sell soft drinks.
Also running in the same district is Badreddin El-Qadi, the NDP's professional candidate and representative for three consecutive terms. The NDP has nominated Iran El-Nifawi, a butcher, as its worker candidate.
Other figures in the Bulaq contest are the Wafd's Ashraf El-Dakrouri, and Mohamed Koroum, the Nasserist Party candidate. Central to Koroum's platform is the goal of resettling the 84 people evicted from the area behind the Egyptian Television and Radio Union building. Koroum is also appealing to clean up the parts of Bulaq where garbage from Zamalek and Qasr Al-Nil is often dumped.
"I have a voting card, but I'm not going to vote because when elections are over, you need nepotism to be able to meet [parliamentary] representatives. The whole thing is merely talk and slogans," Osama Bayoumi, 55, a shopkeeper in Bulaq, told the Weekly.
Related stories:
See Elections 2000
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