Saturday, December 15, 2012

#EgyConstitution : First round "My field trip"

And voting has started already in 10 governorates in Egypt from 15 minutes ago. Today I will do another live coverage from Cairo. Photos will be uploaded later as well video , please follow my twitter account. I will update this post as much as I can insh Allah.

@11:32 AM

Taking a break to eat something as I haven't had a breakfast yet !!
I finished my tour in Zamalek ,most of the Upper middle class islanders of Cairo say No to the constitution.
I went to the Faculty of arts polling station as early as 8:45Am to find two long queues of women and men, some of them brought their coffee from nearby cafe that seemed to be surprised to find all those customers today while other brought chairs with them.
I witnessed conversation between two ladies from No And yes team. I spoke to other two ladies one from team yes and one from team no.
I noticed that the Yessers always start with that phrase : I am not a MB followed by "Egypt needs stability" and "let's give the man a chance!!"
At that polling station I met the popular committee of Zamalek with their yellow vests. Local community volunteers from Zamalek organizing the process of voting.
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One of the "ZC" volunteers
They help voters to find their numbers especially senior citizens.
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Senior citizens were seated there
 They were very organized and polite.

 I met famous actress Samira Ahmed who says a million No to the constitution because of many different reasons above them the healthcare and the return of the poverty certificate.
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Samira and her famous smile
There were many senior citizens there. The army did change their outfit colors.
Then I moved to the physical training faculty in Al Gazira area. another two big queues from upper middle, middle and upper classes. Again most of them I spoke with will vote No. While inside I found none other than Nabil EL Araby ,the head of league of Arab states coming. He wanted to stand in queue but they let him to advance to finish quickly.
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Nabil El Araby
I also found Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour ,the leading member of Al Wafd standing in the queue waiting from his turn. I know he is a NOer. He told me that No will actually bring stability to Egypt unlike Yes.
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Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour

@9:45 PM

I know I am lazy blogger but what you know I returned home to sleep like a baby than to wake up to find my mom got terrible cold and fever.
Anyhow here is the rest of my trip today.
After leaving Zamalek , I headed to Kasr Al Nil Surprisingly I found out that Kasr El Dobra school famous' polling station "which is the main polling station in the area" closed so I decided to head to EL Sayada Zeinab area in Cairo. El Sayada unlike Zamalek is popular area. In my way I stopped at Abdeen Secondary school for girls polling Station. Another mixed polling station , now we are speaking about middle and working class. You will find more color , some say "Yes" for stability and some say "No" because the lack of social insurance and the debate about health insurance. This is difference from Zamalek where people were pissed off that there were no rights for women "mostly ladies" while men. Again you got many senior citizens and many ladies coming to vote.
There was action in this polling station.For no reason in one of the sub committee "6" I was kicked out of it along the observer "from the national council of human rights" for no reason despite both of us had our credentials.
Things were not good either in sub committee "7" at the same polling station another observer was kicked out. That observer was angry and reported the incident to the council. Unfortunately she had a verbal fight with a lady voter "YESer"
The judge in committee "7" did not welcome reporters either he made stand besides the wall refusing to let me take photos or ask any question about the process
I left this polling station heading to El Sayada Zeinab. I went to Al Taliaa preparatory school to find a very long queues from men and women to the level that people are waiting for hours and the polling station inside are full of voters.
Middle class and working class voters split between Yes and No where they had discussions while waiting. Interestingly again I was confronted by the refusal of that constitution because of its neglect to the social and economic demands of the people after the revolution unlike for instance the Christians whom I meant and complained on how one party dominated the constituent assembly.
Inside the polling stations many people were there and the judges told me that more people began to understand the importance of elections and voting.
I left that polling station and headed to the famous El Saniya school polling station. There were not high turnout there , no queues so far I could tell. Of course I should not be sure because the police officer did not let me in because my permits go back to the presidential elections. Well you must know the referendum committee did not issue new permits and told journalists to use their old ones.
And here I am
Now taking couple of minutes , here is a photo gallery for the best photos I took today 

I also shot those clips from the polling stations

6 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Ahram Online's coverage was biased and shameful. You are capable of better than the crap you all put out yesterday.

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  3. Your photographs show well dressed affluent mostly 'NO' Egyptian voters standing in line and is not representative of 90% less privileged Egyptians.
    Regardless of who wins the vote, Egyptians will continue to revolt against any and all types of authority if their daily economic circumstances does not improve (and I do not see any improvement either). Egypt's economy is SHIT for lack of a better word, and IMF plus other investors loan conditions will make life hell for the next 3-4 years (look at Greece and Spain).
    Egyptians are in for a rough ride, may God help you.
    The Canadian.

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    Replies
    1. When 65% of Egypt GDP was in the hands of Mubaraks mafia of 32 families who cared nothing at all for Egypt or the Egyptians I wish people would stop blaming Morsi for the mess we are in. The blame should be squarely put on the heads of these filool and every filool still in any position of government. God help Morsi because cutting out this cancer is no easy task especially since at every turn dumb Egyptian protesters are continually thwarting his every move. Enough with the protests!! yes we all know it's addictive with all the blogging, TV interviews etc but seriously now enough is enough! Time to get on board and build Egypt!

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  4. جميل ان تذهبى للسيدة زينب بعد الزمالك فهو حى بيرم التونسى و الشيخ رفعت و الشخ سلامة حجازى و هو ترمومتر الطبقة الشعبية,

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  5. Now what? Almost half of the voters said 'NO' same as in the President's election. A President can survive on that terms, but for a Constitution it is a disaster. Moreover as one can assume that the Ihwan pulled all the strings to mobilize their supporters.

    Let's face it: those 67% who did not vote are as well 'NOers'. Egyptians do not want to be governed by Islam and if Ihwan and Salafeen are pushing to impose they will be dealt with the most bloody revolution in Egypt's history. I am truly afraid for my country. These religious zealots are a menace and they can grow only on uneducated people who can easily be deceived by their lies. GOD HELP EGYPT!

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