News Coverage prepared for: The European Union delegation to Egypt

Transcription

1 News Coverage prepared for: The European Union delegation to Egypt Disclaimer: This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of authors of articles and under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of IPSOS or the European Union. 1

2 Thematic Headlines Domestic Scene Abu al-furtouh s Campaign Calls for Investigations into Vote Counting Violations Arms Confiscated on the Borders with Libya Egypt Ready for Presidential Elections Judges are Angry The U.S.A will Support the Coming President Lack of Consensus about the Complementary Constitutional Declaration Haikal Highlights the Perils of Electing a President in the Absence of a Constitution Expatriates Voting Results Declared SCAF Urges Citizens to Vote in Elections Omar Soliman Warns Against Military Coup US to Cooperate with Egypt s Elected President, Says Ambassador Jihad Leader Says Shafiq s Victory Means Return of Terrorism Morsi Beats Abul-Fotouh in Saudi Arabia Results of Egyptian Expatriates Votes in Presidential Polls MB Starts to Show Off Journalists Going On Hunger Strike Call for Halting Military Trials Advisory Council Suspends Sessions until End of Elections Political Forces Discuss a Code of Ethics for Powers of the President Fate of El-Ganzouri s Government Will be Determined by New President Martyrs Can Vote in Presidential Elections Soltan Accuses El-Ganzouri of Squandering Public Funds Revolutionary Graffiti El-Baradei: No Specified Powers for Egypt s New President Announcing Results of Expatriates Votes to be Postponed 2

3 Newspapers (22/05/2012) Page: 1, 3, 4, 5 Author: Mamdouh Shabaan and others Egypt Ready for Presidential Elections 51 eligible voters will cast ballots in 27 governorates in Egypt to choose the first president after the Jan 25 Revolution. 14 thousand and 509 judges, 1200 of them are women, will observe the elections. The Presidential elections will start tomorrow in 13 thousands and 99 sub-stations from eight in the morning to eight in the evening. The High Presidential Elections Commission declared that everything was ready for the elections. SCAF called for respecting the result of the elections because it would reflect the will of the majority of Egyptians, hinting that the democratic process in Egypt was in the beginning. The Armed Forces, in cooperation with the security forces have taken strict security measures to secure the electoral process and the polling centers. NGOs will form 55 operation rooms to monitor the elections electronically and on earth, and also to observe the votes counting process. Former American President Jimmy Carter who heads his Carter Peace Program delegation has held meetings with a number of Egyptian officials to facilitate the tasks of the international observers. Dr. Ali Gomaah, Mufti of Egypt called on all Egyptians to participate in the presidential elections as a national duty. He also called on Egyptians to respect the result that would reflect the public will. 3

4 Page: 1 Author: not mentioned Arms Confiscated on the Borders with Libya The Egyptian authorities confiscated 50 surface-to-air missiles on the borders with Libya. The missiles were confiscated with a gun, a machine gun and 1145 different kinds of bullets and 12 boxes of drugs. Two smugglers were arrested. 4

5 Page: 3 Author: Muhamamd Anz and Samih Lachin Abu al-furtouh s Campaign Calls for Investigations into Vote Counting Violations Presidential Candidate Abd al-munim Abu al-futouh s campaign called the High Presidential Elections Commission to investigate into the violations committed in the vote counting process in Saudi Arabia and to take the needed legal procedures. The campaign had detected a number of violations during the vote counting. The violations included closing the Egyptian Consulate in Jidda and dismissing all the deputies before the end of the vote counting that was resumed on the second day. Some political trends collected the national identity cards of a number of Egyptians in Saudi Arabia under different pretexts and used them in illegal voting. 5

6 Page: 1 Author: not mentioned Lack of Consensus about the Complementary Constitutional Declaration The different parties and presidential candidates did not achieve an agreement about the complementary constitutional declaration that will be issued to determine the authorities of the president, the government, the Parliament and the position of SCAF until a constitution is drafted. The Muslim Brotherhood s Freedom and Justice Party withdrew from the meetings two days ago. In the same context, four presidential candidates did not attend a meeting that was called for by presidential candidate Khalid Ali to come up with one stance towards the issue. The four candidates are Abd al-munim Abu al-futouh, Hamdeen Sabbahi, Hicham al-bastawisi and Abu al-izz als-hariri 6

7 Page: 1, 7 Author: Haitham al-sharqawi Haikal Highlights the Perils of Electing a President in the Absence of a Constitution 24 hours before the beginning of the presidential elections in Egypt, prominent journalist and political thinker Muhammad Hassanein Haikal asserted that electing a president before reaching a final draft of the constitution was like marriage without a contract. Haikal pointed out the major and serious challenges that were facing Egypt in this era. Such challenges are represented in a 500-million daily deficit, in addition to the critical situation in Sinai that has become a hostage in the hands of Israel. In a TV program on al-hayah TV, Haikal said that SCAF was dealing with a heavy heritage and committed a lot of mistakes. However, Haikal believes that the Army is never to be destroyed for it is the only guarantee for stability in Egypt. Haikal stated that the Army was not an institution but a securing and reassuring power. Haikal also stated that the Muslim Brotherhood could not work in politics, expecting clashes between the Muslim Brotherhood on the one hand and the other political players and SCAF on the other. Haikals believes that Mubarak s regime has not been overthrown but was only destabilized. Haikal also referred to the international influence on the coming president, confirming earlier statements by Dr. Mustafa al-fiqi that the coming president must be approved by Israel in the lack of a real will to change. Haikal also referred to the current unlimited chaos in the Egyptian media. 7

8 Commenting on the recent crisis with Saudi Arabia, Haikal said breaking into the Saudi Embassy in Egypt was a crime and described the Egyptian apology as containing a great deal of humiliation. Haikal warned of changing the Arabic-Israeli conflict to an Arabic- Iranian conflict through sowing sedition between the Sunnis and the Shiites in a plan that had been drawn for 20 years. Haikal said Shiites had always been present in Egypt throughout history and their presence was not new. 8

9 Page: 4 Author: Jumaah Hamd Allah Expatriates Voting Results Declared Egypt s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared the final results of the presidential elections that were held in the Egyptian embassies and consulates in 166 countries. The Muslim Brotherhood s Candidate Muhammad Mursi came first followed by Abd al- Munim Abu al-futouh. Hamden Sabbahi came third followed by Amr Mussan and Ahmad Shafiq. Musrsi got the vast majority of votes in Saudi Arabia. 9

10 Page: 4 Author: Ayman Hamzah The U.S.A will Support the Coming President The US Ambassador in Cairo Anne Patterson declared that the United Sates would support the coming president of Egypt even ifs he were an Islamist. Patterson called all Egyptians to take part in the historical elections. Patterson inaugurated developing projects in different governorates like Cairo, Giza and Alexandria. The main project is funded with $ 4 million by the American Agency for International Development (USAID). 10

11 Page: 3 Author: Mohamed el-sayem and Ayman Ashour Advisory Council Suspends Sessions until End of Elections The Advisory Council decided to suspend its sessions this week until the end of the first round of the presidential elections, which will take place on Wednesday and Thursday. The decision was taken to allow the council members to crystallize a vision in light of the complementary constitutional declaration, which is expected to be issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces within days, said Advisory Council Secretary General Osama Burhan. 11

12 Page: 1 Author: Eman Ibrahim and others SCAF Urges Citizens to Vote in Elections The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a statement to urge all the Egyptian citizens to vote in the presidential elections. SCAF said it was not biased to any presidential candidate. SCAF said security forces along with the Armed Forces are responsible for securing the elections. SCAF stressed that the people should accept the results of the elections. 12

13 Page: 1 Author: Hussein Abdel-Halim Judges are Angry The crisis between the Judges and the Presidential Elections Commission escalated. Judges are angry at distributing them on the polling stations regardless of their ages or places of residence. About 1883 judges were excluded from the monitoring process in the presidential elections. Meanwhile, 1000 judges were distributed in remote places far away from their places of residence. 13

14 Page: 1 Author: not mentioned MB Starts to Show Off Al-Nour Party Spokesman said 150 Salafist representatives will be present in the ballot stations to support Dr. Abdel-Moneim Abu Al-Fotouh. The Muslim Brotherhood has 56,000 representatives for Dr. Mohamed Morsy in the ballot stations. 14

15 Pages: 1, 2. Authors: Hani Yassin, Rabab Fares (and others). Political Forces Discuss a Code of Ethics for Powers of the President SCAF is trying to impose limits on the powers of the new president through issuing a complementary constitutional declaration, said a number of Members of the Parliament, most of them belong to Islamist political parties. They referred to a crisis related to the role of the military junta in the transitional phase and the powers of the new president. A number of Muslim Brotherhood s MPs put forward an initiative to agree on a Code of Ethics which will determine the powers of the new president instead of issuing a complementary constitutional declaration. Head of the Parliament s Foreign Affairs Committee Dr. Essam El-Erian stressed that SCAF does not have the powers of legislation, so how can SCAF issue a constitutional declaration unilaterally? El-Erian said political forces can work together to agree on a Code of Ethics that determines the powers of the coming president. Al-Nour Salafi Party Spokesman said that talking about a Code of Ethics at this stage is pointless because the powers of the new president should be determined by a constitutional declaration so that it becomes binding. Similar news was reported in: Al-Shorouk: Pages 1, 5. 15

16 Page: 2. Author: Safiya Hamdi. Fate of El-Ganzouri s Government Will be Determined by New President Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Fayza Aboul Naga said that the fate of Dr. Kamal El-Ganzouri s government will be in the hands of the new president. As soon as the new president is elected, he will have the power to keep or dismiss the current government, Aboul Naga said. She confirmed that El-Ganzouri s government worked hard to put an end to many crises and tried to restore stability to the country. Aboul Naga also explained that the cabinet has prepared an operation room to follow up on the process of elections and there will also be operation rooms in the relevant ministries; namely Interior, Justice and Transportation. The government will also coordinate efforts with the Armed Forces to ensure that elections will be organized and transparent. 16

17 Page: 3. Author: Not mentioned. Soltan Accuses El-Ganzouri of Squandering Public Funds Al-Wasat MP Essam Soltan accused the government of squandering public funds and manipulating the public through the opinion poll issued by the Cabinet s Information and Decision Support Center. The results of the poll revealed that the top presidential candidate was Ahmed Shafik followed by Amr Moussa. Soltan sent a letter to Prime Minister Dr. Kamal El-Ganzouri accusing the cabinet of falsifying facts to affect the public opinion. He based his argument on the results of voting of Egyptian expatriates which revealed that Moussa and Shafik came last. 17

18 Page: 1. Author: Nada Al-Khouli. Martyrs Can Vote in Presidential Elections Zahraa Said, sister of Emergency Law Martyr Khaled Said, was surprised to find out that the name of her deceased brother was listed on the website of the Presidential Elections Commission among those who are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections. Zahraa told Al-Shorouk newspaper that she heard earlier that many people found the names of their deceased relatives on the lists of voters, and once she entered the ID number of her brother, his name showed up on the list. How can the names of the deceased be included in the list of voters unless there is some kind of a deal to rig their votes? asked Zahraa. Khaled Said, 28, was tortured to death by two policemen in Alexandria on June His death raised anger among many Egyptians and many believe that his death sparked the January 25 revolution against the Mubarak regime. 18

19 Page: 1. Author: Maisaa Fahmi. Revolutionary Graffiti In Mohamed Mahmoud Street, the memories of battles between revolutionaries and security forces will always remain. Young revolutionaries used street art or graffiti to express the tales of their struggle against security forces. Yesterday, the governor sent workers to paint the street and eliminate all the graffiti work. Thousands of young revolutionaries wrote online expressing their disappointment and sadness towards this decision; others took off to the street to protect the remaining graffiti and draw new ones. Revolution is an idea that will never die and we will restore everything they erased, said one of the revolutionaries. 19

20 Page: 5. Author: Ahmed Fathi. El-Baradei: No Specified Powers for Egypt s New President Dr. Mohamed El-Baradei, former chief of the IAEA and co-founder of the Constitution Party, said he might not vote in the upcoming presidential elections because he does not recognize the integrity of elections under Article 28 of the Constitutional Declaration. We will elect a president with no specified powers. The Constitutional Declaration is flawed and SCAF do not have the right to amend it unilaterally, wrote El-Baradei on his Twitter account. A source close to El-Baradei told Al-Shorouk newspaper that El-Baradei is strongly against Article 28 which grants immunity to the decisions of the Presidential Elections Commission in the face of future contestations or appeals. 20

21 Page: 5. Author: Saneya Mahmoud. Announcing Results of Expatriates Votes to be Postponed The Presidential Elections Commission, headed by Senior Judge Hatem Bagato, will follow the rules which organize the process of voting, vote counting and declaring results. The commission will not announce the results of Egyptian expatriates votes until presidential elections are held inside Egypt. Informed sources within the commission said according to the rules representatives of presidential candidates have the right to receive information of the outcome of votes from various countries; however, the commission will not declare full results of expatriates votes so that they do not affect votes inside the country. 21

22 Page: 3 Author: Kamel Kamel Jihad Leader Says Shafiq s Victory Means Return of Terrorism If former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq wins the presidential elections, he would be a clone of the former regime of Hosni Mubarak, who was forced out of power by the revolution of January 25, said Islamic Jihad leader in Egypt Nabil Naim. Shafiq s victory in the upcoming polls will mean the return of terrorism, the emergency state and violence, Naim told Al-Yom7 newspaper. Shafiq does not have any development programs but would allow the return of violence and prisons, the Jihadi leader said. He is backed by the businessmen of the now-defunct National Democratic Party, he added. 22

23 Page: 5 Author: Mohamed Rashad Morsi Beats Abul-Fotouh in Saudi Arabia Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi garnered the largest number of votes of Egyptians in Saudi Arabia, followed by Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh. In the constituency of Riyadh, the vote results were as follow: Mohamed Morsi: 41,509 Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh: 21,907 Hamdeen Sabahi: 9,263 Amr Moussa: 6,249 Ahmed Shafiq: 3,552 23

24 Page: 6 Author: Ali Hassan Journalists Going On Hunger Strike Call for Halting Military Trials Activists and journalists going on a hunger strike in solidarity with the Abbassiya detainees, who started one, organized a press conference on Sunday. Activist Ragya Omran said security forces have arrested 350 people on May 4 and handed them over to military trials. The detainees are suffering the worst treatment imaginable as are being systematically tortured in detention inside military prisons, Omran said. 24

25 Page: 3 Author: Mohamed Hendawi US to Cooperate with Egypt s Elected President, Says Ambassador The US will respect the will of Egyptian voters and cooperate with whoever they elect in the presidential elections, said US Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson. Egyptians will head to polling stations on Wednesday and Thursday to elect a new president for the first time in decades. Asked whether the US will cooperate with an Islamist president, Patterson said the US will deal with any elected president, regardless of his political or ideological background. Similar news was reported in Al-Yom7 (page 2) 25

26 Page: 3 Author: Not mentioned Omar Soliman Warns Against Military Coup Former vice president and former intelligence Chief Omar Soliman warned that a military coup could occur in Egypt if the Muslim Brotherhood reached power. In statements to Lebanese journalist Jihad al-khazen, Soliman said a military coup could happen to rescue Egypt from the Muslim Brotherhood. Under the MB ruling, Egypt would be transformed into another Pakistan or Afghanistan, he warned. The MB is currently preparing itself militarily to face any coups, Soliman said, adding that the group would have a revolutionary guard corps to fight the army in two or three years. Members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces do not know how cunning the MB is, he said. 26

27 Page: 6 Author: Ahmed Magdi and Mohamed Hendawi Results of Egyptian Expatriates Votes in Presidential Polls Chairman of the general committee for expatriates voting Counselor Hatem Begato announced the results of the presidential elections of the expatriates votes, excluding those of Saudi Arabia. Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh garnered the largest number of votes, followed by Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi and Hamdeen Sabahi. The results are as follow: Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh: 46,986 votes. Mohamed Morsi: 39,437 votes. Hamdeen Sabahi: 28,252 votes. Amr Moussa: 24,343 votes. Ahmed Shafiq: 18,606 votes. The vote results in Saudi Arabia will be announced in two or three days. 27

28 TV Coverage (21/5/2012) Program: 24 Hours News Channel 1 State TV Hours until the presidential elections start, and judges will take part in monitoring the elections. Similar news was reported in Program: Masr Al-Gadeeda, Channel: Al-Hayat 2, Host: Moataz Al- Demerdash The Ministry of Interior developed a plan to secure the elections with intensive preparations. Similar news was reported in Program: Masr Al-Gadeeda, Channel: Al-Hayat 2, Host: Moataz Al- Demerdash Pre-election silence started Monday midnight. Similar news was reported in: Program: Akhbar Masr, Channel 1 State TV Program: Yesed Sabahak, Channel 2 State TV, Host: Karim Awadallah and Dina Farouk SCAF, the government, and the Judicial Authority stress that they are keen to hold transparent presidential elections. News Channel 2 State TV Time: 26:00:00 Announcing the results of Egyptian expatriates votes in Saudi Arabia was delayed due to the complaints filed by presidential candidates Abu Al-Fotouh and Khaled Ali. SCAF urges all Egyptian citizens to vote in the presidential elections. Program: Yesed Sabahak Channel 2 State TV Host: Karim Awadallah and Dina Farouk Presidential Elections Commission Secretary General Judge Hatem Begato will announce today the results of Egyptians expatriates votes from the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Political forces and parties will hold a meeting today to discuss the draft resolution for the Constituent Assembly in order to submit it to SCAF. 28

29 Radio Coverage (21/5/2012) News Channel: Al-Shark Al-Awsat SCAF is not biased to any presidential candidate. 25:00:00 Similar news was reported in Channel: State Radio, Time: 23:00:00 The Committee responsible for Egyptians expatriates voting will hold a meeting to gather the votes and hand representatives of presidential the number of votes each of them obtained. 23:00:00 News Bar Channel: Mega FM Time: 10:00:00 Pre-election silence started today. April 6 Movement formed 26 operations room to monitor any violations of the rules of the elections. 29

30 Internet Coverage (22/5/2012) Facebook We Are Khaled Saeed: Election silence: The High Presidential Elections Commission decided to halt the announcement of the election results in Saudi Arabia due to suspected collective voting in violation of the rules. %A7%D8%B1/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%82- %D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A6%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8% B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7- %D9%84%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8% AA-%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%B1-%D9%88%D9%82%D9%81- %D8%A5%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86- %D9%86%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AC- %D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%AA- %D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1.aspx Egyptian cabinet Prime Minister Kamal A-Ganzory urges the citizens to vote in the first-ever free presidential elections. Ganzory said the government will not allow any violations during the elections and the government will take all the necessary legal actions to deter anyone who plans to use thugs or prevent the citizens from voting in the upcoming elections. Fayza Abul-Naga, Minister of International Cooperation, said the government coordinates with other concerned ministries to hold the elections, under full judicial supervision. The Armed Forces will be securing the polling stations. Abul-Naga: Suez Canal revenues did not decrease. Abul-Naga: Foreign reserves at the Central Bank of Egypt witnessed its first increase in April since the outbreak of the January 25 Revolution to reach USD 15.2 billion. To know the location of your ballot station, log on or send a text message with your National ID number to 5151, or call

31 This is purported to be a pic of Assef Shawkat's body: #syria Last tweet a photoshop of Qadhafi's body with Shawkat's head on it. New on Arabist: Dispatch: Algeria's "nif" #Syria Asif Shawkat few days to confirm, such a larger than life figure not showing up to work will be noticed from teaboy & up #Syria Asif Shawkat all evidence gathered from ppl say that he is dead. Some ppl I know know Drs in Shami hospital who confirm Tyranny's catch-22: In today's world you have no legitimacy without providing education; educated people will one day ask for their rights. Arabs have problems, but they aren't the poorest or most illiterate on the globe. #Kawakibi 31

32 Publication overview Al-Ahram: Egyptian state-run official daily newspaper Founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-waqa'i`al-masriya (English: The Egyptian Events, founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian government. Al-Akhbar: Egyptian state-owned semi-official daily newspaper It was founded in May 1952 as a part of Akhbar El Yom. Al-Gomhoria: Egyptian state-owned daily newspaper An influential state-owned Egyptian Arabic language daily newspaper. It was established in Al-Shorouk: Egyptian daily independent newspaper Are a prominent Arabic newspaper published in Egypt [1] and several other Arabic nations It is a daily independent newspaper, covering mainly politics, militant affairs and sport. Al-Masry al-yom: Independent daily newspaper On 7 June 2004, it published its first edition. The paper initially circulated primarily amongst Cairo s intellectual elite, providing objective news coverage in the belief that good news would beat sensationalist reporting found in other Egyptian print media. After 3 years, it was challenging Al-Ahram for the status of being the national paper of record. Though Tahrir: Daily independent newspaper Dostor: Daily independent newspaper Yom 7: Daily independent newspaper 32

33 Table of Content: Newspapers Al Ahram Newspaper Egypt Ready for Presidential Elections. 3 Arms Confiscated on the Borders with Libya Abu al-furtouh s Campaign Calls for Investigations into Vote Counting Violations. 5 Al masry al youm Newspaper Lack of Consensus about the Complementary Constitutional Declaration.6 Haikal Highlights the Perils of Electing a President in the Absence of a Constitution. 7-8 Expatriates Voting Results Declared.9 The U.S.A will Support the Coming President 10 AL Gomhoria newspaper Advisory Council Suspends Sessions until End of Elections..11 Al dostour Newspaper SCAF Urges Citizens to Vote in Elections.12 Judges are Angry.13 MB Starts to Show Off.. 14 Al Tahrir Newspaper Political Forces Discuss a Code of Ethics for Powers of the President 15 Fate of El-Ganzouri s Government Will be Determined by New President. 16 Soltan Accuses El-Ganzouri of Squandering Public Funds 17 Al Sherouk Newspaper.. Martyrs Can Vote in Presidential Elections.. 18 Revolutionary Graffiti...19 El-Baradei: No Specified Powers for Egypt s New President..20 Announcing Results of Expatriates Votes to be Postponed.21 Al youm al 7 newspaper Jihad Leader Says Shafiq s Victory Means Return of Terrorism Morsi Beats Abul-Fotouh in Saudi Arabia.. 23 Journalists Going On Hunger Strike Call for Halting Military Trials.24 Al Akhbar Newspaper US to Cooperate with Egypt s Elected President, Says Ambassador..25 Omar Soliman Warns Against Military Coup 26 Results of Egyptian Expatriates Votes in Presidential Polls 27 TV Coverage Channel Channel Radio Coverage Al-Shark Al-Awsat Mega fm 29 Internet coverage Facebook Twitter