Egyptian Elections 2011

     Today was the first day of voting for Egypt's Lower House of Parliament (Magles El Shaab مجلس الشعب) or The People's Assembly. As with almost everything political in Egypt this year, it was new and different. For a start, there were new names to vote for! Gone were the names of those who had dominated the parliament (and country) for decades and they were replaced by countless others. With all these new faces came new symbols (due to the low literacy rate in Egypt, each candidate and party is given a symbol so that illiterate voters know who to choose). I remember the only signs I would see around my neighbourhood were the camel and the crescent, both used by the National Democratic *snort* Party candidates. This time there was a veritable cornucopia of candidates to choose from (130 on my ballot paper) and their symbols ranged from the bizarre to the ridiculous (cookers, food mixer, tank, knife, shirt, carpet, chair, bouquet of flowers, gold ingot, water heater, bus, school bus, tram, train, basketball, basketball net and so on).

The main roundabout near my house becomes an election campaign hub

Some of the candidates' banners

There's a lovely fountain hidden behind all those banners

    Of course, this being Egypt, nothing is as simple as it first appears. Under former President Nasser an addition was made to the constitution stating that 50% of the Lower House should be composed of workers and farmers. A later amendment set the minimum % of women who must be MPs. This means that voting is not as straightforward as placing a check mark next to your preferred candidate's name. 

   

    Once in the polling station, you're given 2 papers; one to vote for the party and one for the individual candidates. Of the individual candidates you must choose 2, one of whom must be a worker. These individual candidates may be running as a member of a political party or as independents. Confused yet?

   My day began at 8:30 when I left home to head towards my polling station (polling stations were assigned according to your national ID number and so my parents and I were each at different stations despite sharing an address). I had no idea where the school serving as my polling station was, but I was lucky enough to meet up with 3 young ladies from my neighbourhood who were at the same one, and despite none of us knowing where we were going, we set off together. We found our school in a middle/working class area of Cairo called El-Zaitoun which is fairly conservative, it also has a large Coptic population which meant the queue was a mix of people voting for the Freedom and Justice Party (the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood), a minority voting for the ultra-conservative Islamist El-Nour party and Christians who, like me, were voting for the more liberal or secular candidates.

   The queue was long, and seeing it was amazing as Egyptians are not famous for their patience or queue formation! It snaked around the block in a U shape and was twice as long when I left as it had been when I joined.

The queue in front of me. At this point we'd been in line for an hour and still had to turn the corner before we could even see the school gates.

Part of the queue (about halfway along) when I was leaving.

 We were all chatting, but none of us ever really discussed who we were voting for, we were just pleased that we were voting. There were a few people passing out flyers as we waited, despite this being against election rules which state that all campaigning had to have ceased 48 hours before the vote.  The actual voting only took a couple of minutes, as I knew exactly who I was voting for. So after a 3 hour wait, weeks of reading up on parties I made my 3 check marks, signed the register, dipped my thumb in the fluorescent ink and was done! I had voted for the first time!!

    Of course, none of this was imaginable a year ago and if people had not taken to the streets and squares in January, we would have "voted" for a new President next September only to have Gamal Mubarak win with 90% majority. There are  many who think this parliament will be a useless entity, there purely for show until the constitution has been reviewed and a President elected next year. They also say it may not even last beyond a couple of months. Whatever happens, for better or worse, Egyptians went to bed today feeling, for the first time, that they made a difference. So for that alone, I say, to everyone who protested, was injured and especially to those who gave their lives; "Thank You"

Tea and Politics.

   Well we didn't actually drink tea, but we most certainly spoke politics. A few nights ago my brother, a friend and I went to a friend's house to meet with a judge and former UN lawyer to talk politics and the discuss the future of Egypt.
 
   Conversation ranged from the structure of the country's justice system and the challenges facing those in it and the possible scenarios in Egypt's future. The major focus of the evening though, was the proposed amendments to the constitution. These amendments address several main areas:

1. The President (who is eligible and time limits of office).
2. Elections and voting.
3. The appointment of a Vice-President.
4. Emergency Law.
5. Presidential use of military justice.
6. Amending the constitution. 

For the full details of the amendments please click here Egypt's Constitutional Amendments

   Something that I hadn't realized before this meeting was that the old constitution is technically null and void since when Mubarak stepped down and handed control to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces the constitution fell with him, because he left office due to a revolution. Legally our current constitution is what was issued by the SCAF in their communique which stated their intent to uphold the laws of the land and all international agreements and treaties ( a thinly veiled assurance to Israel regarding the Camp David peace agreement). This means that instead of simply amending the constitution, now is the best possible time to re-draft the entire document. The only possibility of this happening is if the proposed amendments are refused in the referendum to be held on March 19th.                                 

   One article that was not mentioned in the list of proposed amendments is the second article. This states that the official language of Egypt is Arabic, the official religion is Islam and that Islamic sharia is the only source of jurisprudence.  This is the section that a growing number of people have objections too. Egypt has approximately 10 million Coptic Christians and it is felt by them, and many Muslims, that this last section of the second article is unfair to this section of the population.

   What 'our' judge was able to tell us, is that in his professional experience this is only applied in family law and only to Muslims. Our host family was Coptic Christian and to hear the situation discussed rationally, calmly and intellectually from both points of view was refreshing, too often these conversations turn hostile. One of the points raised was that of religious education in school. One argued that from a very young age she felt "different" from her friends when the class was separated for religion classes. Her argument was that if this were removed from the curriculum (leaving religious education to the home and family) it may well go some way to removing the 'us and them' mentality which in cases may be subconscious.

   All in all it was one of the most interesting, stimulating and thought-provoking evenings I've had in a long time. I really hope we get a chance to repeat it.                                    

Happy New Year!

Yes, yes I know, I'm a day late. Better late than never though!  I wish you all a happy 2011 filled with love happiness, job satisfaction, unicorns and rainbows.

I will make a request of you though reader. Please pray, or wish upon a star or whatever you feel most comfortable with, that this year doesn't continue as it began with regards to the violence that has marred these first few days of the year.

Thank you xx

Egypt's Hidden Treasures.

The next time you come to Egypt, or even if it's your first time here, try and expand your horizons beyond the pyramids, the museum and temples. Yes I know the pyramids are awe-inspiring, the final resting places of kings who wished for immortality and have-in a way- achieved it should definitely be on your list. After all where else in the world can you see one of the original 7 wonders of the world? But this isn't all this country has to offer, there's so much more than just the Pharaohs and their treasures.

What you won't find advertised as much or on the zillions of cheap tourist tat available is the beauty of medieval Cairo. Known locally as Masr El-Kadima, or Old Cairo it contains Roman ruins and remains of the pre-Cairo capital of Egypt, El-Fustat. El-Fustat was built by the Arab Khalifa (literally; follower or he who comes after) Amr Ibn el Aas after the Arab conquest of Egypt in the 7th century. He built the first mosque in Africa in his new capital city. Cairo itself was not built till the 10th century during the Fatimid rule of Egypt and at that time it was a separate city to the north of El-Fustat. Eventually the cities merged as Cairo expanded and El-Fustat fell into disrepair.

The location of El-Fustat was near the Roman Babylon Fortress, which today is in the area known as Coptic Cairo. This area, as the name suggests, is home to some of the oldest churches in Cairo and is thought to have been where the Holy Family visited during their flight into Egypt. Most of the churches were not built until after the Arab/Islamic invasion of Egypt when Christians were tolerated unlike the persecution they faced under the Romans. The fortress itself has had churches built into or on its walls.

One of these churches is the Hanging Church of Babylon, so named because it was built on the gatehouse of the Roman Fortress, so its nave is suspended, or 'hanging' over a passageway. Due to the construction of the High Dam in Aswan, and the subsequent lack of floods has lead to the ground level rising and so the dramatic effect of the church has been somewhat lost. The church contains icons dating from the 8th century to the 18th and the alter is carved ebony and ivory decorated with coptic crucifixes.

In the Islamic area of Old Cairo has some of the most beautiful mosques in the city one of which is the Rifai Mosque ( el masged el Rifa'i) commissioned by the 19th century rulers of Egypt to complement the 11th century architecture of the Sultan Hassan Madrasah (madrasah literally means 'school' in Arabic but is most commonly associated with the learning of Quraan-Islam's holy book). The Mosque has a beautiful inner courtyard with a central water fountain area for wudu' (the ablutions performed before prayer) and this is surrounded by four areas for prayer. The mosque is the final resting place of, among others, King Farouk-the last King of Egypt.

For pictures of the places mentioned above please click here http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/fruitcakegirl/Old%20Cairo/