Nabil El Araby : Will he be the MB’s winning card in the presidential elections !?

For months I knew that Nabil El Araby , our current LAS secretary general was among the unannounced names mentioned as potential presidential candidates not only among the public but among the political Olympia class. Now Shorouk newspaper announced today that the Shura council of MB will be held by the end of the month and that it will discuss a lot of issues among which the presidential elections and the candidates the MB and its political arm “FJ party” will support.

On the top of the presidential candidates the MB are thinking of supporting Nabil El Araby who got huge support from several MB leaders according to the newspaper.

From one month ago I knew that the Muslim brotherhood will support a Non Islamist Non military civilian presidential candidate in the race in a clever political move as now we got military candidates like Shafik or Khairallah as well Islamist candidates like Abu El Fatouh or Hazem Abu Ismail or El Awa . If they support a candidate with military background , they will prove the accusations that they have a deal with SCAF. If they support an Islamist candidate , they will prove the fears from Islamists take over . “Already they can’t stomach Abu El Fatouh and Abu Ismail is more of Salafist then MB”

Despite they supported Dr. ElBaradei in the past , they need a new face especially that there is not huge public support for real for any candidate , El Araby seems to be that new Non Islamist civilian liberal name perfect to have their support. From two sources I knew that El Araby was among the candidates of the brotherhood.

Nabil El Araby can be strong candidate and can win a lot of his support among Egyptian public especially against Khairallah. His fiasco in Syria I do not think will consider a challenge for him that much because Egyptians know very well it is not up to the LAS secretary general.

Already just look to Amr Mousa and the fiascos the LAS witnessed in his time and he got the nerve to run for the elections !!

The question now is not whether the Shura council of MB will support El Araby but whether will El Araby accept this offer and enter the race !?

Another question why the MB leaked the news to Shorouk newspaper in this time now !? Does this has to do with Khairallah’s candidacy !?

Is the MB trying to showing the El Araby how popular he is in the public to force him to run ? I do not know , I can’t myself from asking why they uncover their card now.

Of course El Araby officially is stuck in LAS till at least March 2012 when the general assembly of LAS is held. Will these three months be enough for El Araby to win the vote of the Egyptians if he accepts the offer !?

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Egyptian army,Politics,News,Nabil El Araby,Muslim brotherhood,Party of parties,Freedom and Justice party,Hossam Khairallah

Meet our latest potential presidential candidate : Lt.General Khairallah , the former intelligence undersecretary

Official photo for Khairallah

I think I owe you an apology because I know about this newcomer to the presidential race but I was too lazy to blog about it, anyhow at least we got more news now than just friends chitchat.
A former Lt.General called Hossam Khairallah announced his presidential candidacy today in Cairo in Grand Hyatt hotel in a press conference attended by newspapers and TV channels. The presidential program of the former Lt. General that denies to be the candidate of the military is focusing mainly on education and civility of the state.
From the name or rather the military rank you will know immediately that we are speaking about military man , a big military man. Well for sure he is a big military man but there is a twist in our tale here.
1945 born Hossam Khairallah is a Yemen war and 1973 war veteran who joined the Egyptian intelligence aka GIS from 1977 till 2005. Lt. General Hossam Khairallah had served in the GIS in the information and estimation unit for year 26 years till he became the undersecretary of the GIS in 2005. This man participated in making the most important international economic and political agreements Egypt signed like the COMESA agreement.

#2012 : My 2012 Wishes for Egypt

• I do not want any Egyptian to be killed or injured by the hand of another Egyptian or any Egyptian to be abused or tortured or bullied by another Egyptian
• People would have a real vision , mission, strategy and tactics for the new Egypt and her future.
• Unity
• Justice for everybody not only for the martyrs and the injured but for everybody in this country.
• The transitional period to become a true transitional period and not vindictive period.
• A true independent judiciary
• A new constitution that suits a country like Egypt and preserves my rights as Egyptian representing all Egyptians.
• A new elected interim president for this transitional period who understand its challenges .
• A new parliament whose members do not care for the position or for their party as much as they do care to pass this transition period successfully.
• A new government whose ministers care for the people for true and make to real achievements and positive change in the lives of the Egyptians.
• An army and intelligence that do not interfere in politics that protects our true national security , an army that produces arms and defense systems in its military production factories once again.
• A police that makes me feel safe and confident that my rights will be not lost.
• True TV channels that represent the people do not represent the interests of the owners or the ratings of the TV shows.
• A true understanding among people.
• Our youth to think with their minds and not with their emotions and heart.
• People began to think outside the boundaries of Tahrir square , Cairo and Alexandria
• The attack on our agricultural land to be stopped.
• To restore our money and assets outside and inside Egypt

And I think these wishes are enough , more than enough. The road in front of us is too long and too hard more than you think

Technorati Tags: #Jan25,Citizen journalism,Politics,Egyptian army,Egypt,Revolution,Post Revolution,President elections 2011,National,National security,Democracy,Freedom of expression,Media,human rights

Shafik : Let them Eat “Fish and chips” !!

And strangely Shafik appeared suddenly in that terrible week as usually to make people more angry with his provoking statements. Now the former less than one month PM and potential aspiring presidential candidate Shafik spoke at conference held by the Canada Egypt Business council “CEBC” on last Wednesday in Cairo.
During that public meeting Shafik said that if he becomes the president , there will be a lot of changes in Egypt and that :

Egyptians deserve to eat fish and chips instead of beans and falafel  !!

Dear follow Egyptians elect Shafik and you will eat fish and chips instead of fol and ta’amiya !!!!!!!!!

A Tweet Up with Abu El Fatouh

Today I was invited by Dr. Abdel Moneim Abu El Fotouh campaign to attend a Tweet up with him and of course I went because I could not miss this opportunity to attend a meeting with a potential presidential candidate like Abu El Fatouh not to mention the opportunity to ask him.

I went along with amazing group of tweeps in Egypt and here are a brief for the most important point the famous Islamist and former member of Muslim brotherhood said :

• He considers him as a moderate Islamist representing the moderate Islam of Egypt that respects human rights , that respects human value.

The Youth of Muslim brotherhood rebelled against most of the leaders of the brotherhood and joined the revolution. Some old members including him also joined the revolution.

#Right 2 Vote : Protesting is not enough

Today Egyptians abroad in several capitals and cities around the world like London and New York are having protests in order to be granted the right to vote abroad. Up till now there is nothing clear about whether they will be granted in future elections including the presidential elections and constitution referendum. “It seems that the parliamentary elections will be skipped as we are speaking about matter of weeks now”

More than 120 countries grant the right 2 vote to its expats including countries like Sudan and Algeria.

Right 2 Vote : Not less Egyptian

The Road to Civil State : And the results of the Anan meeting with the parties are

First of all General Sami Anann held the meeting in a conference room without internet access so dear Mustafa Al Naggar of El Adl party could not keep us updated through his twitter on what was taking place behind the closed doors as he used to do , I do not know if it is on propose or not.
Second the meeting is finished and there are leaks online with results . The two men behind these leaks are Dr. Mustafa Al Naggar and journalist Mohamed El Garhey “It is not the first time he does it” plus Muslim brotherhood and El Nor Salafist party. It is officially announced in Cairo with official statement which you can find at the bottom of this post.
The decisions or promises reached are the following :

• Decision “1” : Amending article no.5 from the elections to allow the parties to run for individual seats in the parliament. (1)
• Decision “2” : In a week from now SCAF will study the suspension of the emergency law as well as it will study the treachery law to ban some of the NDP leaders from political activity. (2) 
• Decision “3”  : All the parties including the Muslim brotherhood and Salafists announce their approval on Dr. Ali Salmi’s proposed Supra Constitutional document and the rules of choosing the constitution provisional assembly. (3)

30/9 : Restoring the revolution in Tahrir by ending the emergency law

And many Egyptians are heading back to Tahrir square once again today to restore the revolution. The protest seems to be getting bigger and bigger with the participation of many political powers and forces from left to rights.
It is noticeable at least for me that the Salafists and Islamists are participating in this million man protest. The three Islamist presidential candidates “El Awa , Abu El Fatouh and Abu Ismail” are participating powerfully. “El Awa” has suspended his campaign till things get better yet he and Al Wasat party are participating in this protest unlike any other Friday protest. Abu Ismail got podiums installed in the square. Both men are expected to say speeches.
The Muslim brotherhood is not participating but its youth are participating as usual. The group is giving SCAF time till Sunday to change the elections laws otherwise there will be another plan they did not declare. The group is somehow confident that SCAF will change the law.
Yesterday thousands of them declared that the emergency law was lifted at 12 AM last night based on the second constitutional declaration’s article no. 59. That declaration came after a statement issued by 6 presidential candidates “Abu Ismail, El Awa, Sabhi, Moussa, Abu El Fatouh, Sabhi, Bastawisi” to SCAF demanding the following :

30/9 Friday in Tahrir : Our Force is in our unity

Tomorrow there will be another million man protest at Tahrir square and unlike previous million protests there is a real consensus on its goals above them : Rejecting the emergency law.
Not only the emergency law is rejected but there are other demands that are related to the elections laws. Here are the demands most political groups and parties participating in the protest.

• Ending the emergency law
• Amending the elections law
• Activating the treachery law to ban the remnants of NDP
• Setting a date for presidency elections
• Shorter timeline for power transition.
• Ending the military trials for civilians 

The participation will be high according to what see as many parties including the parties that stood against the million man protests in the past like El Wasat party.

Road to Civil State : Not everything is bad

Despite many people and parties do not like the recent elections law issued by SCAF and there is a lot of fear regarding the elections yet there is always hope.

Today the ministry of administrative development had a meeting regarding the elections API , oh yes API. That meeting was attended by by tweep Amr Abdel Aziz who shared its details with us on twitter ,  I am just summarizing and translating what he said here.

The government will allow software developing companies to use elections API “Provided by the high commission of elections” in order to develop application.

Through the Elections applications you will know the following :

• You will be know if you are registered or not.
• You will know where your voting station is.
• You will know which ballot box and the number of your name in the list before going and searching for hours “I tried it in time of Mubarak and know how it means to search for hours to find your name”

Road To Civil State : SCAF’s current roadmap

SCAF has just announced from less than 45 minutes ago that the parliamentary elections “people’s assembly” will be held on November 28th,2011 while the Shura council’s elections will held on January 29th ,2012 
The first session of the people’s assembly will be held on March 16th , 2012 while the Shura council's first session will be held on March 24th,2012

The parliamentary elections will be held on three stages as follows : 

• The first stage will be held on November 28th , 2011 and it will include the following 9 governorates : Cairo , Fayoum , Port Said, Damietta, Alexandria, Kafr El Sheikh, Asuit , Luxor and Red Sea. 
• The second stage will be held on December 14th , 2011 and it will include the following 9 governorates : Giza , Bani Sawif , Monufia , Sharkia , Ismailia, Suez, Bahaira , Sohag and Aswan. 
• The third and final stage will be held on January 3rd , 2012 and it will include the following 9 governorates :  Al Mania, Qalubiya , Gharbiya , Dakhalia , North Sinai, South Sinai, Marsa Matrouh , Qena and New Valley. 

And my expectations are some how correct , the presidential elections will be not be held before fall 2012 !!
According to some military source the presidential elections will be held in late 2012 or early 2013 , did not I expect that.
Lt. General Mamdouh Shahin is refusing to speaking about the date of presidential elections on TV.
The Muslim brotherhood and its party Freedom and Justice refuse the law insisting on the closed proportional list   despite they welcomed the elections' schedule. 

ElBaradei and Shafik May launch their presidential campaigns tomorrow !!

Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei is running for the presidential elections so far despite there is not much info about the presidential elections and he is going to launch his campaign officially at last insh Allah tomorrow.
Oh yes after more than a year he is going to launch it officially tomorrow in his family’s hometown Ibyar in Gharbia , Delta. Now strangely there is no buzz about this in the media to the level that I think there will be no announcement tomorrow despite I know personally some of Dr. ElBaradei’s supporters who will head to Ibyar from early Morning.
It is indeed strange compared to the buzz created by the news of Ahmed Shafik’s lecture in Alexandria at the Yacht club. There is an expectation that Ahmed Shafik will announce that he will run for the presidential race. Needless to say Ahmed Shafik is the Mubarak’s regime supporters no.1 candidate. Updated : His lecture in Alexandria has been cancelled. 
I do not understand why the news of Shafik found its way to the press and the media before the news of Dr. ElBaradei’s presidential campaign.
Dr. ElBaradei has criticized from few hours ago the long timeline of parliamentary elections describing as a return to the stone age.

Road to Civil State : Presidential elections long race

First here are the Potential presidential candidates currently in spotlight for those interesting :

• Mohamed ElBaradei
• Amr Moussa
• Abdel Manam Abu El Fatouh
• Hisham El Bastawisi
• Mohamed Salim El Awa
• Hazem Abu Ismail
• Hamdeen Sabhi
• Bothania Kamel
• Ayman Nour
• Magdy Hatata
• Mohamed Balal

Potential candidates without official announcement :

• Ahmed Shafik
• Omar Soliman

TV stunt candidates :

• Tawfik Okasha
• Mohamed Naschie

The military unofficial candidate :

• Sami Anan 

Eid greetings from Dr. ElBaradei and other presidential candidates as well

Now speaking about Eid greetings.
This was the first Eid greetings I have seen so far from Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei.

ElBaradei’s Eid Message

Dr. ElBaradei congratulates us in Egypt , he is currently abroad but he will come back after the Eid to start a new local tour in Upper Egypt. Dr. ElBaradei will start his tour with Aswan insh Allah. I love the message of ElBaradei ,it is full of hope and optimism.
And to prove that Dr. ElBaradei’s supporters and fans are not fanatic to the level of “have their own Ultras” here is a compilation of greetings by  other presidential candidates on twitter.

Sinai Follow up : Waiting for a proper official reaction

There is a currently a strong protest at the Israeli embassy in Giza , of course this bring a lot of bad memories after what happened last night in public reaction. It is not that big , between 1500-5000 protesters are currently there. The demands of the protesters according to their chants ranges from bringing down the Israeli flag to expel the Israeli ambassador to cancel the Camp David accords and cutting the relations totally.
I am worried on how this protest will end because of the bad May 15th incident. My fear increased hours earlier when the protesters managed to break in to the metal barricades and stood at the entrance of the Israeli embassy !! Of course some of our tweeps there say that there was intention from storming the embassy but Nawara Negm said in her twitter account there were infiltrators who are trying to escalate the matter.
I am still worried because the military police there with its commander Hamdy Badeen , I am still worried because allegedly the street lights of surrounding streets were cut off according to Dostor News. Still based on the actions of the military police so far and the attempt of Badeen to calm down the  protesters , I believe and hope that the night will pass peacefully and that SCAF is just letting the protesters to vent their anger.
Some protesters decided to have a sit in in front of the embassy.

The worst statement ever issued by SCAF "Updated"

Lt. General Mohsen El-Fangary has lost all the popularity he has gained by his famous statement on February 11th with his infamous today July 12th.

The Statement of SCAF on July 12th

In a very short statement of 3 minutes El-Fangary asked the citizens to stop any activity that would stop the return of regular life and warned of rumors and attempts to jump over rule !! Needless to say he was referring to sit ins and strikes , he was referring to the Tahrir complex and blocking the highways. He was warning the protesters of Tahrir along other protesters in the country.

And when will we have the local councils elections Mr. PM !?

PM Sharaf stated in a press conference during his current visit to the UAE that the parliamentary elections will be held at late September 2011 while the presidential elections will be held at the end of the year in December 2011. The members of SCAF said this before , there is nothing new except a confirmation that stop any speculation about delaying the elections. Of course if I were from the journalists who attended that press conference , I would have asked PM Sharaf one thing : When are we going to have our local councils elections !?

Last week the administrative court ordered the dissolution of local councils in one of the biggest blows to the Mubarak regime legally and administratively as the NDP used to control 98% of local councils across the country. The government has decided to respect the court order and not to appeal.According to the law we should have local councils elections within the upcoming 60 days !!

SCAF wants to know your favorite presidential candidates

SCAF has published a very interesting poll in its official page on the Facebook , it was more interesting than the previous poll which no one knows why it had been posted. ‘I think they they were testing the feature then’
Anyhow today’s poll is indeed interesting and forces us to think about why the SCAF is so eager to know who is our favorite potential presidential candidates when we already do not know if we are going to have our parliamentary elections or the constitution first.
When SCAF had posted a link to the poll in a website outside the Facebook , it created confusion and people though that the Facebook page was hacked. The first link posted on the Facebook this afternoon took me to a page in a Website called “Egypt First” and that page required my Facebook username and password so I vote in the poll. Sooner enough we find this error message in the website.

Account suspended 

People believed that either there was some sort of hacker or that SCAF wants to hack or even Stalk them on Facebook. ‘You can not blame them after 30 years of police state’
Anyhow people began to complain on SCAF Facebook page and in less than an hour the post with the link was removed and another new post was published. The new post announced that by the request of the people the poll was transferred from the website to the FB official page. This means the page was not hacked and it was down due to traffic.

ElBaradei on National TV ; short and to the point

Last Thursday night Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei appeared for the first on air on the Egyptian national TV after his return back last year.

He did not speak for a long nor did he speak about his candidacy to presidency or his campaign and yet the interview was the best publicity he would ever get. Dr. ElBaradei made it clear that he does not seek a position and that what he wants is actually a better future for his country and his people.

Dr. Mohamed was clear to the point focus on his initiative ' The Egyptian citizen bill’ and his views about education and health care.

ElBaradei and the National TV : To appear or Not to appear

Last Tuesday afternoon Amr Khaled , the famous Islamic preacher and TV host surprised his followers on his own accounts along his weekly show “Bokra Ahla/Tomorrow is better” ‘s accounts on Facebook and twitter a very important announcement. He will interview for the first time Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei in the Egyptian national TV next Thursday.
Yes that will be the first for Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei to appear on his own country national TV despite according to the protocols as a recipient of the Nile Sash ElBaradei comes after the president before the prime minister. Needless to say Dr. ElBaradei news and interviews were banned in the national TV when he began to criticize the Mubarak regime. I do not recall if the Egyptian TV made an interview with him when he got the Nobel prize but I remember that it did not transfer the ceremony when he got the prize !!