Presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh was attacked by three masked gunmen in a carjacking incident on February 23. Aboul-Fotouh sustained a concussion while his driver was wounded and both men were hospitalized on February 24. The assailants made away with Fotouh’s car after the overnight carjacking on a Cairo highway.
ELECTIONS:
1) Presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh was attacked by three masked gunmen in a carjacking incident on February 23. Aboul-Fotouh sustained a concussion while his driver was wounded and both men were hospitalized on February 24. The assailants made away with Fotouh’s car after the overnight carjacking on a Cairo highway. [AP, English, 2/24/2012]
2) The Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party is expected to nominated FJP MP Mohamed Toson as speaker of the Shura Council. Committee heads will be decided by February 26. [al-Masry al-Youm, Arabic, 2/24/2012]
3) Saber Abdel Sadeq, a spokesman for the Brotherhood said of the upcoming presidential election, “Our candidate will be a true Muslim. We will not support a candidate who believes in secularism.” [al-Ahram, English, 2/24/2012]
4) An FJP MP , Hassan El-Berence, survived an assassination attempt on February 24 after receiving a series of death threats. Unidentified assailants chased and hit El-Berence’s car. El-Berence is a member of the parliamentary committee currently pushing for Hosni Mubarak’s transfer from a military hospital to the Tora Prison Hospital. [al-Ahram, English, 2/24/2012] [al-Masry al-Youm, Arabic, 2/24/2012]
CONSTITUTION:
5) The Freedom and Justice Party has nearly finalized a draft law defining criteria for the selection of the 100-member constituent assembly, which will reportedly be comprised of 40 members from within parliament, 30 public figures or specialists, and 30 members from outside of the parliament including representatives of trade unions and universities. The FJP claims that there is broad consensus among political parties on these criteria. [al-Masry al-Youm, Arabic, 2/24/2012]
6) Presidential Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh stated that presidential elections would probably take place under the rules of the constitutional declaration, whereby a committee will begin drafting the constitution in mid-March. He warned that if the constitution is completed before the elections, Egypt will have "half-boiled constitution.” [al-Ahram, English, 2/24/2012]
7) On February 22, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry rejected foreign assistance in drafting the new constitution after an offer from the United Nations, citing Egypt’s domestic legal expertise and century of experience with constitution-writing. [Bikya Masr, English, 2/23/2012]
NGO INVESTIGATION:
8) Andrew Shapiro, the assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs said that “aid cannot flow” to Egypt “if we are not prepared to certify or waive the requirement.” “We are looking at that very seriously. No decisions have been made. Our hope is the NGO crisis is resolved,” Shapiro said, emphasizing that the financing “has served U.S. interests for a number of years, and Egypt remains an important partner.” [Bloomberg, English, 2/24/2012]
ECONOMY:
9) "Egypt’s economic situation remains challenging. Growth has stalled, and this is hurting the Egyptian economy and the Egyptian people," said IMF spokesman Gerry Rice on February 23. Last week, Finance Minister Mumtaz El-Said said his government would sign a memorandum of understanding with the IMF in March for a previously rejected $3.2 billion loan. [al-Ahram, English, 2/24/2012]
Photo Credit: Scott Nelson
Image: egypt-sn-29.jpg