News Update: December 2, 2011

Prime Minister Ganzouri with Field Marshal Tantawi

Following reports that the Freedom and Justice Party and Salafi Nour Party won around 40 and 20 percent of the vote, respectively, the FJP’s secretary general Saad al-Katatny issued a statement denying an “alleged alliance” with the Salafis to form an Islamist government.  Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri is expected to announce the members of his new cabinet on December 3, and early reports indicate that he will retain as many as ten ministers from Sharaf’s government including two holdovers from Mubarak’s regime.

PROTESTS:

1) Thousands of protesters returned to Tahrir Square to commemorate the martyrs of the revolution and demand an end to military rule on December 2. The April 6 Youth Movement called for the formation of a revolutionary salvation government, saying the ruling military council’s appointment of Kamal El-Ganzoury as prime minister is undermining the revolution’s objectives.  Meanwhile, a few hundred pro-SCAF protesters staged a rally across town in Abbassiya Square supporting the military and denouncing Mohamed ElBaradei and the April 6 Youth Movement.  [al-Ahram, English, 12/2/2011] [al-Shorouk, Arabic, 12/2/2011]

ELECTIONS:

2) Following reports that the Freedom and Justice Party and Salafi Nour Party won around 40 and 20 percent of the vote, respectively, the FJP’s secretary general Saad al-Katatny issued a statement denying an “alleged alliance” with the Salafis and insisting that it is only coordinating with the Democratic Alliance, comprising 11 parties.  [Ikhwanweb, English, 12/2/2011]  [al-Ahram, Arabic, 12/1/2011]

3) Preliminary results indicate that the Freedom and Justice Party received almost 40 percent of the vote, followed by the Salafi parties with at least 20 percent (official results were expected on December 2). These figures suggest that Islamist parties may fill as many as 120 of the 168 seats contested in the first stage of elections. The liberal-oriented Egyptian Bloc, dominated by the Free Egyptians Party, the Social Democratic Party, and Tagammu’, is in third place. Early results also indicate that voters showed a bias in favor of familiar former parliamentarians over a new generation of younger candidates associated with the revolution. Several Mubarak-era MPs from the Brotherhood, Wafd, and NDP won seats in the first round and several more have moved on to the runoff round scheduled for December 5.  Prominent activists George Ishak (founder of Kefaya) and Gamila Ismail (ex-wife of Ayman Nour) lost in Port Said and Cairo, respectively. However, some candidates associated with the revolution, including Amr Hamzawy, won seats, and others — Mostafa El-Naggar, chairman of the centrist Adl (Justice) Party and reformist judge Mahmoud El-Khodeiri – will compete in the runoff round. Although many observers expected the Wafd to perform well, the party suffered major losses. [al-Ahram, English, 12/2/2011]

4) Unofficial statistics suggest that voter turnout may have reached 70 percent in the first round, compared to an official turnout rate of 23 percent in the 2005 parliamentary elections. (Actual turnout was believed to be even lower in 2005). [al-Ahram, English, 12/2/2011]  

5) The Brotherhood’s FJP has 43 candidates advancing to the runoff round on December 5 in Cairo, competing against candidates from the Salafi Nour Party, the Egyptian Bloc, and the centrist Adl Party in Cairo, Alexandria, Kafr al-Sheikh, Damietta, Fayoum, Luxor, Assiyut, and the Red Sea. [al-Masry al-Youm, Arabic, 12/2/2011]

NEW GOVERNMENT:

6) Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri submitted his cabinet nominations to the SCAF on December 1. Ganzouri is not expected to announce the members of his new cabinet until December 3, pending the SCAF’s approval, but early reports indicate that he will retain as many as ten ministers from Sharaf’s government including two holdovers from Mubarak’s regime, Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Aboul Naga and Electricity Minister Hassan Younis. One of the few ministers who was not asked to stay on is Finance Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, who will be replaced by Ganzouri himself. Egyptian media speculated that Major General Mohamed Ibrahim was a front-runner for the Interior Ministry post, despite the fact that human rights activists and protesters are demanding that the ministry be radically restructured under civilian leadership. Ibrahim has been accused of “massacring” Sudanese refugees as Giza’s security director during the tenure of Mubarak’s former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly. The fact that several leading public figures under consideration for ministerial portfolios have declined the posts does not bode well for the Ganzouri government’s legitimacy. Prominent journalists Adel Hammouda and Magdy al-Gallad both declined the Information Ministry post, while actor Mohamed Sobhy rejected an offer to lead the Ministry of Culture.  [EgyptSource, English, 12/1/2011] [al-Ahram, English, 12/2/2011] [al-Masry al-Youm, Arabic, 12/2/2011]

7) The SCAF is expected to announce the formation of an “advisory council” shortly that will assist the military in administering the remainder of the transitional period until a new president is elected. The proposed council, intended to function as a “buffer zone” to prevent “misunderstandings” between the public and the armed forces, would consist of 30 representatives of political force including youth groups. The council would also have the authority to “advise” the SCAF on proposed laws or regulations. [al-Ahram, English, 12/2/2011]

U.S. POLICY:

8) Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) published an op-ed in Politico calling for conditioning military aid to Egypt on “Egypt should be conditioned on the holding of free and fair elections; an end of the abuse of emergency rule; and respect for due process and fundamental freedoms.” These conditions are included in the new Senate appropriations bill, but not the House version, although both drafts request the same level of funding, $1.3 billion, for the Egyptian military. [Politico, English, 12/2/2011]

9) The US embassy in Cairo appeared to sharpen its criticism of the military on December 1, warning that future exports of US-made teargas could be suspended if Egyptian authorities continue to use it to cause death and injury. Earlier this week, State Department spokesman Mark Toner defended the shipment of tear gas to the Egyptian government, saying that Washington has not seen “any real concrete proof that the Egyptian authorities were misusing tear gas.” Under Mubarak’s regime in 2009, the US government authorized permanent export licenses for $101 million in defense sales to Egypt, including 33,770 units of ‘tear gases and riot control agents," Jack Shenker reported [The Guardian, English, 12/1/2011] [State Department, English, 11/29/2011]

Photo Credit: Reuters

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