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MENASource

May 23, 2012

Egypt’s Presidential Candidates Envision New Regional Role and Foreign Policy

By Mustafa El-Labbad

In the days leading up to the presidential election, political debates in Egypt have focused disproportionately on domestic issues. Voters and candidates have sidestepped concerns over Egypt’s regional role and strategic interests and the avoidance of these issues has resulted in a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the trajectory of foreign policy after the revolution. […]

MENASource

May 23, 2012

Massive Turnout Expected as Polling Begins, with Minor Violations Reported

By Tarek Radwan

Millions of Egyptians head to polling stations across the country Wednesday to cast their ballots in Egypt’s first genuine multi-candidate presidential election. By most accounts, 30-40 million citizens (60–75 per cent of eligible voters) are expected to head to the polls on Wednesday out of a total of 53 million eligible voters.  

MENASource

May 23, 2012

Egypt’s Next President Will Inherit an Unemployment Crisis

By Maye Ehab

Today, Egyptians began voting in the first truly democratic presidential elections in recent history. Egypt’s next president will face a multitude of challenges, foremost among them the urgent need to revive the ailing economy. Since the January 25 revolution, Egypt’s economy has been languishing under the strain of political instability and lack of security. Many […]

MENASource

May 23, 2012

Shafik Referred to Prosecutor General for Violating Electoral Law

By Mara Revkin

Just hours after the opening of polls on the morning of May 23, presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik has already been referred to Egypt’s Prosecutor General over a flagrant violation of the electoral law’s ban on campaigning 48 hours prior to and during the election days. Shafik appears to have crossed the […]

MENASource

May 22, 2012

How Egyptians Will Vote

By Michele Dunne

Predictions that Egyptians will head to the presidential poll in large numbers on May 23 and 24 are firm and consistent, but forecasts of how they will vote diverge significantly.

MENASource

May 22, 2012

SCAF’s Plan to Clarify Presidential Powers Leads to Confusion and Alarm

By Mara Revkin and Tarek Radwan

With the ups and downs of unreliable polling data, it is no surprise that observers of Egypt’s landmark presidential election have been fixating on the near-term competition between the presidential candidates. What remains in question is the legal and constitutional framework in which the next president will operate. A bold decision by the Supreme Council […]

MENASource

May 22, 2012

Top News: Egypt Allows International Monitors to Begin Work

By Tarek Radwan

Egyptian authorities have finally allowed observers of this week’s presidential election to start work, monitoring groups said on Tuesday, too late for them to draw a full picture of Egypt’s first genuine leadership contest. Many international monitors arrived in April but waited weeks for the necessary paperwork, forcing them to miss most of an election […]

MENASource

May 22, 2012

Egyptians Asked for Change … But Are They Ready for It?

By Hoda Youssef

Nothing expresses a desire for change more powerfully than a revolution. The word “revolution” itself has always been synonymous with fundamental shifts and processes of change. In politics, “revolution” refers to an upheaval in which the incumbent government or system is replaced, but it also has an equally important significance in sociology, where it refers […]

MENASource

May 22, 2012

Views from the Brotherhood on the Eve of Egypt’s Presidential Election

By Michele Dunne

In conversations with several Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and Muslim Brotherhood activists in Cairo over the last few days, I was struck by two dominant attitudes: A calm confidence that Egypt’s future lies in the Brotherhood’s hands combined with concern that electoral victory might yet slip through their fingers.  The news that candidate Mohammad […]

MENASource

May 21, 2012

The Presidential Election: Last Battle of the Egyptian Revolution / الانتخابات الرئاسية: المعركة الأخيرة للثورة في مصر

By Haitham Tabei

A few days before Egypt’s first presidential election since the January 25 revolution, Egyptian voters are feeling tremendous confusion toward the eleven candidates vying to succeed former president Hosni Mubarak, overthrown by the popular uprising fifteen months ago. But activists and observers here in Cairo fear that this election will restore the former regime to […]