Tamer Al-Gendy, one of the founders of Gabhat Al-Tahrir party in Ismailia, conducts interviews at his house. “There's no need for an office at the moment”...
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Football is not just a game in the city of Ismailia. It is an integrated socio-political identity project, from which political leaders rise, and to which all those interested in playing a political role return.
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'Ashwai’iyat' (literally “random areas”) is the Arabic term for slums. Yet randomness and chaos have come to characterise not only the social condition of slum dwellers, but also the way the government deals with this most under-served part of the population. Ezbet el Safih and Ezbet el Hawis are two typical examples in Dakahlia.
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The discovery of gas near Idku ten years ago encouraged gas and petroleum companies to invest in the area. However, waste from these companies polluted the environment, causing serious health and economic repercussions for residents of the area.
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Queues began early in the morning as Cairo saw its first day of elections in 2011. Old and young voters came out of polling stations with inked fingers. Meanwhile flyers were circulated outside polling stations in a last-minute attempt to gather votes, and TV presenters flocked and candidates posed outside booths in one of the most-covered elections in Egypt.
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The landslide win of Islamist forces - the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and the Salafis - in results of the first round of elections posed a major threat to civil forces, especially those that emerged from the revolution, such as the Revolution Continues and the Egyptian Bloc. Consequently, both sides called for the need to coordinate during the run-off elections. EgyptVotes investigated their coordination and challenges faced before run-offs in the Cairo governorate.
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Hours before the second phase of Egyptian parliamentary elections begins, political forces show that they have started to learn from the lessons of the first phase. Although Islamist forces are expected to hold their lead, all currents are trying to improve their position based on alliances and fissures that have appeared in the political scene.
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The first electoral district in the Giza governorate (Dokki, Agouza, Imbaba, Mohandiseen) will witness a struggle between competing lists over workers votes. On one side is the Freedom and Justice Party list, whose third spot is held by union leader Kamal Abu Eita, founder of the first independent union in Egypt and chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions. Eita faces stiff competition from the second-place candidate on the Egyptian Bloc list, Nagy Rashad, one of the first people to call for a minimum wage.
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Revolutionaries in the city of the revolution are content to just monitor: this sums up the situation in Suez on the first day of voting in the second election phase. Despite the heated battle between various political forces, the young age of the revolutionaries has limited their role to pursuing remnants of the former regime or participating in civil society monitoring.
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Magda Al-Nuwaishy is one of few female candidates that managed to reach the top of their party lists. In an interview, the Wafd Party candidate in Ismailia criticised new parties for their lack of political experience. She considered these new parties to be the reason behind vote divisions.
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The run-offs in the second round of the parliamentary elections in the Suez governorate saw large forces present, along with the military police and the army who were responsible for the security at the elections which had a low voter turnout. The run-off elections have also seen an unusual alliance between the Brotherhood and the two left-wing parties joining forces to halt the progress of the Salafis.
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Days before he enters the elections battle, Alaa Hamada Sedky, 29, otherwise known as Upper Egypt's Guevara, appears unconcerned with winning or losing. Sedky is just excited to transmit the message of the revolution to his people who are still tied by tribal bonds and ideas, and are still very much under the influence of the previous regime. Sedky is currently running for a parliamentary position for the districts of Naqada and Qus in the Governorate of Qena.
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Located in the Qalyubiya governorate, Shubra el-Khaima is the fourth largest city in Egypt. In the third phase of parliamentary elections in the city saw competition between the two major Islamist parties, Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and Salafi's Al-Nour party despite its relatively big Christian population. EgyptVotes correspondent spoke to various voters in Shubra el-Khaima.
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Two names competed in the run-offs in the third phase of elections, and more than anything else, drove revolutionaries to despair regarding elections. The first name is Abdel Rahim al-Ghoul, former deputy spokesperson of the People's Assembly, who is in the run-offs in Qena. The second Counsellor Murtada Mansour. The former is the secret hand behind the Naga Hammadi massacre against Copts several years ago, the latter is a controversial figure, both as Zamalek football club president and as fierce defender of the former regime: his name has come up as being among those responsible for the infamous Camel Battle.
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Hours before the spirit of the revolution was to be revived on its first anniversary, and amidst general anxiety that the celebration would turn into a complete face-off, EgyptVotes' correspondent tours lower-class neighbourhoods in Cairo.
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"The parties that have appeared after the revolution mostly consist of a bunch of opportunists who are searching for a role," said activist Mohamed Abo El-Ela
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From 6 April 2008 to 25 January 2011 the residents of Mahalla have been at the forefront of the disobedience against the former regime. The exact number of martyrs remains unknown and little compensation has been acknowledged by the state. So how long will this open wound fester?
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Once forced to work underground, the Muslim Brotherhood made their presence felt in the social and political scene following the recent revolution. The spiritual season of Ramadan saw the MB launch an aggressive campaign, including youth camps, religious and political conferences, and even recreational activities that combined sports with Islam and politics. EgyptVotes reports the Brotherhood's activities in Dakahlia.
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Two weeks before the Maspero protest faced a bloody crackdown, a number of Coptic activists formed a coalition called “Copts for Elections” to encourage Coptic citizens to participate in parliamentary elections. The coalition uses the slogan “For Love of the Christ, and Concern for Copts” and intends to nominate 100 Copts in the coming elections.
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Irregularities and violations of the elections caused voters to raise doubts regarding screening process, as the noted the lack of full judicial supervision and the police and the army leniency regarding violations in the electoral process. Many accuse delegates of party candidates of having breached the electoral process.
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Contrary to expectations, polling stations remained largely empty on the first day of run-offs in Cairo, while several districts saw secular and Islamist candidates battle for seats, and campaign violations by either side continued unabated...
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Once a home base and stronghold of labour movements, Mahalla al-Kubra today sees an absence of the Left in upcoming elections. Leftist participation in the elections will take place in the third phase, and is limited to two candidates from the Popular Alliance and Tagammo' while party-lists in the electoral district are void of any Leftist representation. Meanwhile, most recent labour leadership has a negative attitude towards Leftist parties and considers their message outdated and stale.
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Menoufiya, hometown of the ousted premier Hosni Mubarak and a hotspot of the remnants of the dissolved NDP, saw its first parliamentary elections which were not dominated by the ruling party. The governorate was largely ready for the elections with campaigning spots on every street, as even the military sought to promote itself...
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The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) were poised for victory in the populous Beheira governorate, which saw them in fierce competition with the more conservative Salafis.
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On the second day of voting in Giza governorate's first electoral district, the geographical make-up of the district, which includes two contradictory swathes of Cairo's social classes, represents an intersection of every voting bloc's needs and inclinations.
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Days before the third phase of the People's Assembly elections, few options present themselves to locals of Shubra Al-Khaima's industrial white fortress. The privatisation of factories took away the workers' leverage in negotiations, subjecting them to private capital forces which forced them to vote for remnants of the dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP).
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Despite complaints from all sides, foremost Islamists, about churches being used to steer Coptic voters to certain candidates, a number of political forces continue to court churches as part of their third phase election campaigns.
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'No voice is louder than that of elections' is a slogan that seems to pervade political discourse in the last two months. However a group of activists and politicians insisted on boycotting the elections in a positive manner. EgyptVotes correspondent found that invisible voice in through this investigation.
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In light of widespread violations largely disregarded by the Supreme Election Committee, legal challenges to election procedures come as an addition to a string of suspicions about the violations that took place under the rule of the law and away from election observers and quarrels amongst parties.
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