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News Coverage

prepared for: The European Union delegation

to Egypt

Disclaimer:

“This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The

contents of this document are the sole responsibility of authors of articles and under no

circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of IPSOS or the European Union.”

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Thematic Headlines Domestic Scene

FJP Meets April 6 and Sabahi Campaign Morsi Changes Slogan Muslim Preacher to Establish New Political Party Secret Meeting between NDP Leaders and Former State Security Officer Tahrir Calm Ahead of Planned Protests Advisory Council Urges Political Powers to Accept Election Results Interior Ministry Rebuts Reports about Hiring Thugs during Runoffs Azhar Denies Issuing Fatwa Banning Votes for Shafiq Shafiq is Best Choice for Transitional Period

Advisory Council Urges Powers to Accept Election Results

Psychological Analysis of Morsi and Shafiq

Public Prosecution Investigates Shafiq Premises Arson

Khaled Ali Denies Setting Fire to Shafiq premises

7 Movements in Assyout Boycott the Elections Mubarak’s Trial Disagreement on Amnesty Law Al-Ahram’s Updates on Presidential Race Presidential Campaign Funds and Expatriates’ Runoffs The Muslim Brotherhood; a Battle of Life or Death Sabahi’s Campaign Denies Muslim

Brotherhood’s Allegations The Constituent Assembly and the Presidential Elections Sabahi and Abu al-Futouh Al-Sunni from the Capital Crime to Prison Major General El-Fangari: We Will Remain Neutral during Runoff Presidential Race Heats Up amid Fuel Crisis Court to Issue Verdict in Mubarak’s Trial No Guarantees to Elect Former Regime Remnants or MB Candidate Parties Postpone Discussion of Constituent Assembly’s Criteria Political Forces Divided on Decision from Emergency Law Restoring £400 Million Smuggled to UK

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Newspapers (31/05/2012)

Page: 1 Author: not mentioned

Disagreement on Amnesty Law

The People’s Assembly legislative committee approved an amnesty draft law that grants amnesty for all political crimes.

The approval created considerable controversy amongst the political parties and players. The controversy was about the goal of the draft law, those who were going to benefit from it, the crimes it included and whether it was applicable on crimes of terrorism.

Some politicians considered the draft law to be an attempt of the Islamist trends to “make” laws that serve political aims.

Other observers considered the draft law to be an attempt to free the political prisoners and grant their rights after their release.

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Page: 1, 4 Author: Usamah Siddiq

7 Movements in Assyout Boycott the Elections

7 political movements in Upper Egyptian Asyout declared boycotting the run-off round of the presidential elections because either of the two candidates did not represent the revolution and its aims. .

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Page: 1 Author: Khalid Abu al-Izz

Presidential Campaign Funds and Expatriates’ Runoffs

Judge Farouq Sulatan, head of the High Presidential Elections Commission stated that the law obliged presidential candidates who did not win the presidential elections to present documented information about the funds and expenditures of their campaigns within 15 days after the declaration of the final results.

Farouq added that the candidates should also uncover the source of their funds, adding that any violation in this response will be considered at the concerned legal authorities.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian embassies and consulates finished the preparations for the run-off round of the presidential elections that will start soon.

The Ministry of Interior sent a number of diplomats and administrative employees to help in the electoral process in places of high Egyptian residents.

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Page: 1, 3, 4 Author: Hibah Hassan

Al-Ahram’s Updates on Presidential Race

The competition is heating up in the presidential race.

Both candidates Mursi and Shafiq are trying to reassure people and gain voters’ confidence by pledges to preserve and meet the aims of the Jan 25 revolution.

A number of political players in Egypt issued a final copy of the so-called “document of the pledge.”

The document, adopted by the Egyptian Democratic Party, obliges the coming president to form a presidential team of a number of MPs whose names are to be announced before the run-off round. The document also includes forming a coalition government that includes representatives of all political and social trends. The government should also include representatives of women and Copts. Moreover, the document includes naming the Prime Minister before the run-off round, granting people the “right to a revolution” if its terms were not implemented or in case of major violation of the Constitution, or in cases of transgressions of public freedoms. The document is a final copy of three suggestions offered by Ayman Nour, Nour Farhat and Nabil Zaki.

The Muslim Brotherhood showed considerable flexibility towards a number of hot issues in the frame of its attempts to gain public support for its candidate Muhammad Mursi.

Dr. Mahmoud Izzat, vice general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood stated that the group did not mind the prime minister being from outside the group, stating that the presidential institution should include Coptic and partisan consultants from outside the Muslim Brotherhood and its political party.

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Izzat rejected the term “presidential council” because it conveyed, in his opinion, the meaning of distributing the presidential authorities on many figures.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood leader Ahmad Abu Barakah considered some of the demands to be “unacceptable,” adding that it was unacceptable to ask to dissolve the group or to withdraw Dr. Mursi from the presidential race.

Dr. Omar Darraj, member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party said the Muslim Brotherhood offered all the guarantees to the political players. He referred to Mursi’s promises to form a presidential institution and a government that include all the social and political trends.

On the other hand, responsible sources in Ahmad Shafiq’s campaign asserted Shafiq’s will to cooperate with all the political and social trends including the revolutionary players to achieve the national unity.

The sources asserted Shafiq’s commitment to adopting the aims of the Jan 25 Revolution, including the prevention of the reproduction of the former regime and a commitment not to interfere in the trials of the former NDP figures.

In another context, Egypt’s Mufti Ali Jumaah called on all Egyptians to accept the result of the elections and be united to back the coming president. He also called on Egyptian to adhere to peaceful self-expression and to reject violence.

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Page: 1 Author: Isam Mileji

Mubarak’s Trial

Assistant Minister of Interior for Cairo Security Gen Muhsin Murad, declared that the Ministry of Interior finished all the necessary procedures to secure the Police Academy headquarters in Cairo where the sentencing hearing session in the trials of ousted Husni Mubarak, hi two sons, former Minister of Interior Habib al-Adili and Hussein Salim will be held.

5000 police officers, 30 tanks and 20 armored cars are employed in the security plan.

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Page: 4 Author: Osama el-Mahdi, Ghada Mohamed el-Sherif, Mahmoud Shabaan Bayoumi, Azza Mashhour, Wael Mohamed and Mahmoud Ramzi.

Morsi Changes Slogan

Ahmed Abdel-Aati, campaign coordinator for presidential frontrunner Mohamed Morsi, affirmed that the campaign slogan has been changed to "Our strength, in our unity", to reflect the vision of the next stage in the campaign.

This also reflects the campaign’s increased focus on building bridges of cooperation between campaign workers and all the Egyptian people, masters of the great Egyptian revolution, especially all honorable patriots from all political orientations and the electoral campaigns of patriotic candidates and revolutionaries, Abdel-Aati said.

Meanwhile, official spokesman of runoff candidate Ahmed Shafiq said the campaign

will launch new campaigning methods to make up for the posters that have been consumed by

the fire of the premises.

Ahmed Sarhan said the burned posters were worth EGP 1.5 million as they were planned to be hang all over Egypt within 48 hours.

Shafiq will not organize any electoral tours during the runoff round and will focus on

TV appearances, Al-Masry Al-Yom newspaper learned.

Shafiq also ordered his campaigners not to give any statements to the media over the burning of the premises until the investigation into the incidents is completed, the newspaper reported.

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Page: 4 Author: Mahmoud Shabaan Bayoumi

FJP Meets April 6 and Sabahi Campaign

Senior members of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood group, continued moves to support its candidate Mohamed morsi, who will be facing in the runoff former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.

The FJP leaders met with a delegation from the April 6 Youth Movement and the electoral campaign of ex-candidate Hamdeen Sabahi to listen to their demands and convey them to the party’s executive bureau, a well-informed source said.

The FJP members asked the two delegations to materialize their support for

Morsi on the ground in terms of publicity, the source said.

The April 6 team has spoken with Morsi and asked him to offer guarantees on the distribution of political posts on all revolutionary powers, said chairman of the FJP legal committee Mokhtar el-Ashri.

The Hamdeen Sabahi campaign also expressed support for Morsi, Ashri said.

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Page: 4 Author: Ghada Abdel-Hafez, Mohamed Farghaly, Mahmoud Omar and Saeed Nafea.

Secret Meeting between NDP Leaders and Former State Security Officer

A meeting shrouded in secrecy was held two days ago between senior members of the once-ruling National Democratic Party and a former officer of the dissolved State Security

Agency, Al-Masry Al-Yom learned.

NDP members Yousri el-Moghazi, Haiam Amer, Mosaad Lotfi, Mahmoud Nabih, Abdel-Razeq el-Khateb, Tareq Abdel-Aziz and Ahmed el-Beltagy met with a former State Security Agency officer to set up a security plan to end the Islamist encroachment during the runoff elections, the paper said.

The plan includes picking fights in polling stations to force supervising judges to suspend voting in those stations, sources who attended the meeting told the newspaper.

The made-up quarrels will take place in polling stations that have women-majority voters, who are considered the real voting power of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Thugs will be planted near polling stations too to intimidate voters, who were planning to cast their ballots for Morsi, sources added.

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Page: 4 Author: Ebtesam Taalab and Yasim el-Qadi

Muslim Preacher to Establish New Political Party

Popular Muslim preacher Amr Khaled announced that he plans to form a political party called Egypt’s Future. During a YouTube video broadcast Khaled said the party would have nothing to do with the existing political parties and that it would represent Egyptians in the villages and outer governorates.

Khaled said he would be the representative of the party’s founders, while the party’s chairman will be elected by party members after 100,000 members join.

Khaled went on to say that there must be an institutionalized partisan entity that has a strong presence in all governorates and can fulfill the aspirations of those who are confused.

Khaled said that if he was seeking power, which he is not, he would have taken other measures and entered into other ventures, the details of which he did not disclose.

Amr Khaled is a charismatic and moderate populist Muslim preacher known for wooing crowds of upper-middle class Egyptian youths.

Despite his apolitical approach, Khaled upset Egyptian authorities under the rule of the ousted President Hosni Mubarak with his ability to sway large groups, and many say his sermons caused a large number of young women to begin wearing the hijab.

During Mubarak’s rule, he used to spend much of his time in London due to pressure

from the authorities who feared popular religious leaders.

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Page: 4 Author: not mentioned

The Muslim Brotherhood; a Battle of Life or Death

The Muslim Brotherhood Shura Council held an urgent meeting headed by the General Guide Muhammad Badei. The meeting was to discuss the result concerning the run-off round of the presidential elections.

Muhammad Mursi is expected to declare today the result of his negotiations with the different political players.

The presidential race has become a battle of life or death for the Muslim Brotherhood.

The group’s leadership launched a barrage of criticism against the members for their failure to mobilize the masses to support their candidate in the presidential race, threatening of dismissing members who fail in mobilizing the public to support Mursi.

Well informed sources in the Muslim Brotherhood told al-Gomhouriya about intensified communications launched by the group with Coptic leaders to convince them to back Mursi in the runoffs, and promising them of assigning a Coptic vice president in return.

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Page: 4 Author: not mentioned

Sabahi’s Campaign Denies Muslim Brotherhood’s Allegations

Hamdeen Sabahi’s presidential campaign strictly denied rumors about Sabahi’s will to vote for Mursi in the runoffs.

The campaign also denied Muslim Brotherhood’s rumors about Sabahi having received 500 thousand Egyptian Pounds from Khairat al-Shater before the latter’s decision to run the presidential elections.

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Page: 3 Author: Nada Hamdy and others

Public Prosecution Investigates Shafiq Premises Arson

The Public Prosecution interrogated political activist Alaa Abdel-Fatah as witnesses said they saw him heading a march towards the premises of presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq and inciting the protestors to sabotage and set fire to the premises.

The Public Prosecution also interrogated the four suspects who were arrested earlier: two members of the Front Party, a student and a green grocer.

One of the suspects said he was trying to help activist Abdel-Fatah from some people who were beating him, but this statement was totally different from what the witnesses said.

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Page: 3 Author: Ahmed Gamal

Advisory Council Urges Powers to Accept Election Results

The Advisory Council said that it supports the revolution and its demands and urged the political powers to accept and respect the election results.

The Council also demanded the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to issue a complementary constitutional declaration.

The Council added that Egypt is facing a lot of issues due to “hidden hands” which have been triggering the crisis.

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Page: 3 Author: not mentioned

Shafiq is Best Choice for Transitional Period

Al-Dostour newspaper allocated almost a full page to state the vows of presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq if he became president, some of these vows are:

Solving all Egypt’s issues with the international community.

Spreading security and protecting the citizen’s dignity.

Keeping free education and developing and funding scientific research.

Providing proper health insurance.

Boosting the economy, increasing investments, and decreasing unemployment.

Increasing the country’s income sources to boost foreign reserves.

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Page: 4 Author: Hany Samir

Khaled Ali Denies Setting Fire to Shafiq premises

Former presidential contender Khaled Ali said he was not involved in the arson of the premises of presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq.

Ali said he was just in Tahrir Square with the angry youths and has not incited anyone to set fire to the premises.

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Page: 4 Author: Israa Shawky

Psychological Analysis of Morsi and Shafiq

Al-Dostour newspaper published a psychological analysis of the two runoff candidates.

Cairo University psychiatry professor Dr. Saeed Abdel-Azeem said Ahmed Shafiq, due to his background, was the best leader. He is also wise and cannot accept or surrender to failure.

He added that in the last few conferences, Shafiq’s self-confidence increased.

As for Mohamed Morsi, he said although his education was in the US, he got used to blindly obeying the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide. From the inside, Morsi feels some kind of anger for being his group’s back-up candidate after its main one, Khairat el-Shater, was excluded from the presidential race.

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Page: 1. Author: Ibrahim El-Deib.

Major General El-Fangari: We Will Remain Neutral during Runoff

“We will not be allies to either Mohamed Morsi or Ahmed Shafiq during the runoff,” Major General Mohsen El-Fangari, member of SCAF, told Al-Tahrir newspaper. He confirmed that the Armed Forces will remain neutral towards all presidential candidates.

El-Fangari called on Egyptians to accept the results of presidential elections as they are

because these elections represent true democracy and freedom to choose Egypt’s new president. He also called on some politicians to stay away from “political immaturity,” and coordinate their efforts to achieve development in the country.

El-Fangari said that SCAF will not renew Emergency Law, which officially ends on

Thursday, and the matter will remain in the hands of the People’s Assembly. His statements came during a memorial service for the late Dr. Alaa Fayez who was the

head of Ain Shams University.

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Page: 3 Authors: Mostafa El-Sharqawi, Marwa Shahin (and others).

Presidential Race Heats Up amid Fuel Crisis

Before the runoff stage begins in the race for Egypt’s presidency, the average citizen fails to acquire the least of his demands as the fuel crisis appears once again. The shortage of diesel fuel is pressuring the poor particularly in Delta and Upper Egypt governorates. Farmers are suffering from a significant shortage of diesel fuel which is most needed during the harvest season.

Another crisis started to appear as more power cuts occurred in Al-Sharqiya and other

governorates due to shortage of electricity, as a consequence for the shortage of natural gas. Cars in Al-Sharqiya lined up in front of gas stations in a desperate attempt to buy fuel to operate their agricultural machineries.

In Al-Menoufia, minor clashes took place in front of gas stations as citizens tried to fuel

their cars, while taxi drivers increased their fees causing more quarrels with citizens, amid total negligence by officials.

Similar news was reported in: Youm 7: Pages 1, 4.

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Page: 3. Authors: Hoda Abu Bakr and Al-Walid Ismail.

Court to Issue Verdict in Mubarak’s Trial

Egyptians and observers around the world await the verdict that will be issued by Senior Judge Ahmed Ref’at on June 2 in the trial of the ousted president Hosni Mubarak. “Trial of the Century” resumes amid a state of tension and instability in the country following the results of the first round of presidential elections. The ousted president, his two sons Alaa and Gamal, his former minister of interior, and six security officials, are facing charges of killing peaceful protesters during the early days of the January 25 revolution.

Millions of Egyptians await the court’s decision which will bring justice to the families of

the revolution’s martyrs. Speculations of observers varied between those who said the judge might delay the

announcement of the verdict to avoid a flare of anger in the already-tense Egyptian street, while others rule out further delays in announcing the verdict.

All the possibilities exist at this time and opinions of observers differ between those who

say that the judge will issue a heavy sentence and those who confirm Mubarak’s sentence will be reduced. The political scene in the country will be affected to a large extent by the sentence issued in the Mubarak case.

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Page: 4. Author: Rabab Fares.

No Guarantees to Elect Former Regime Remnants or MB Candidate

Some of the political forces had suggested a Code of Ethics to offer guarantees for them

to support one of the two presidential candidates during the runoff. They held meetings to discuss the idea and reached the conclusion that even such guarantees will not be binding and the two candidates will temporarily agree on them to gain more votes.

Dr. Gamal Zahran, political science professor, said he will boycott the runoff because he

does not think that any of the two presidential candidates can provide real guarantees for the revolution; “as one of them represents the corruption of the Mubarak regime and the other blindly submits to the decisions of a religious organization.”

Dr. Amr Hashim Rabie, strategic expert, said the suggested guarantees are temporary

and once one of the presidential candidates comes to office, he will neglect his promises.

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Page: 1 Author: Ahmad Fathi

The Constituent Assembly and the Presidential Elections

Political parties at the People’s Assembly resume their meetings to achieve an agreement on the Constituent Assembly before the run-off round of the presidential elections is held.

MP Wahid Abd al-Majid said if the Muslim Brotherhood agreed on a compromise in this concern and an agreement was achieved, it would reflect positively on the group’s presidential candidate Muhammad Mursi.

MP Muhammad Imad al-Din of the Freedom and Justice Party declared that the party was keen on forming the Constituent Assembly before the presidential runoffs.

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Page: 1 Author: Muhammad Jumaah

Al-Sunni from the Capital Crime to Prison

Cairo Criminal Court reduced previous sentence to death against police officer Muhamamd Ibahim Abd al-Munim, known as al-Sunni to 5-year jail.

Al-Sunni is accused of killing 18 demonstrators and injuring 3 others during the revolution days.

The death sentence was default. Al-Sunni turned himself in to be retried and the sentence was reduced to 5-year jail.

Al-Sunni was proved innocent in another case where he was accused of killing a demonstrator in front of al-Zawya al-Hamra district.

Page: 1

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Author: not mentioned Sabahi and Abu al-Futouh

Hmdeen Sabahi, who came third in the first round of the presidential elections, and Abd al-Munim Abu al-Futouh, who came fifth, held a closed meeting yesterday to discuss the current situation.

The two candidates asserted the necessity to maintain their gains amongst the public and.

Sabahi said he ethically could not vote for either of the two candidates. He added that he, and Abu al-Futouh, realized their mistake because they were not united in the elections. Sabahi said he would not recommend any of the two candidates and that people were free to vote for the candidate they wanted.

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’ Page: 1. Author: Nermine Abd Al-Zaher.

Parties Postpone Discussion of Constituent Assembly’s Criteria

Several political parties and forces decided to postpone their meeting, scheduled yesterday, to discuss and determine the criteria for selecting members of the Constituent Assembly until next week.

Sources told Youm 7 that the Freedom and Justice Party was the main reason behind

postponing the meeting. They warned against prolonging the period of selecting members of the assembly until after the presidential elections.

MP Wahid Abdel Megid said a proposal for forming the Constituent Assembly was

presented to political parties and if they agreed to it, a document will be issued and signed by all the parties involved.

Page: 3.

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Authors: Nour Ali, Ali Hassan (and others).

Political Forces Divided on Decision from Emergency Law

Political forces were divided on the decision to renew Emergency Law, which officially

comes to an end today, Thursday, and whether SCAF is entitled to extend the law without the parliament’s approval.

MP Dr. Wahid Abdel Megid said that SCAF can either refer extending the Emergency

Law to the People’s Assembly for approval or hold a referendum. He said that it is not likely to hold a referendum because the Constitutional Declaration exists. “If the People’s Assembly agreed on extending the Emergency Law, this will be the worst day in the history of the parliament,” said Abdel Megid.

On the other hand, Al-Wafd MP Al-Badawi Abdel Latif demanded extending the

Emergency Law.

Page: 3. Author: Ibrahim Qassem.

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Restoring £400 Million Smuggled to UK

Egypt’s judicial delegation in the UK assigned the task of investigating the country’s stolen funds and ways of restoring them estimated the stolen funds at £400 million. Additionally, the delegation said some of the apartments and villas owned by former regime figures in the UK will be confiscated.

Senior Judge Assem Al-Gohari, Assistant Minister of Justice for Illicit Gains, said the

judicial delegation finished deliberations with their British counterparts and will issue a statement when they returned to Cairo today.

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Page: 3 Author: Ahmed el-Tahawi and Mostafa el-Shorbagi

Tahrir Calm Ahead of Planned Protests

Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square has been calm on Wednesday with just a few dozens of protesters occupying the space outside the Tahrir Governmental Complex and the central park.

The protesters have been engaged in deliberations on the runoff elections, expressing rejection of both candidates: former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq and Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi.

The protesters called on the Egyptian people to gather on Friday in Tahrir in millions to protest the results of the first round of the presidential elections.

Some of the protesters distributed flyers that read “Why no to Shafiq?”

They also called for applying the political isolation law on Shafiq, a Mubarak-era prime minister.

Page: 4 Author: Ahmed Khalil and Ismail Mostafa

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Advisory Council Urges Political Powers to Accept Election Results

The Advisory Council urged all political powers to respect the will of the Egyptian people and commit to the results of the integral presidential elections.

The two runoff candidates must commit to the revolution’s goals and establish a civic state, the council said.

It also expressed support for the national front embracing the revolution’s spirit that aim to cross safely the transitional period.

It called on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to issue a complementary constitutional declaration to set the criteria for choosing members of the Constituent Assembly that should not fall within the ambit of the People’s Assembly or the next president.

Page: 4 Author: Diaa Abul-Safa

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Azhar Denies Issuing Fatwa Banning Votes for Shafiq

Al-Azhar, the highest religious institution in Egypt, denied issuing a fatwa (religious opinion) forbidding voters from casting their ballots for former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.

In a statement, Al-Azhar vehemently refuted the claims, saying it had not issued any statements regarding this issue.

Al-Azhar will remain neutral toward all presidential candidates, it said.

It also denied a news report published in a private newspaper that it had asked runoff candidates Ahmed Shafiq and Mohamed Morsi to offer written pledges to overcome sectarianism.

Nothing can be further from the truth, the statement read.

Page: 4 Author: Gamal Hussein

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Interior Ministry Rebuts Reports about Hiring Thugs during Runoffs

The Interior Ministry refuted online reports that its National Security Agency (the former notorious State Security Agency) has contacted thugs and outlaws to commit crimes during the second round of the presidential elections, which will take place on June 16 and 17.

The reports are baseless and do not in any way reflect the Interior Ministry’s policies

following the revolution of January 25, an official security source at the Ministry said.

The Ministry will remain neutral toward all runoff candidates, the source said.

TV Coverage (29/5/2012)

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Program: Al-Hayat Al-An Channel: Al-Hayat Host: Maha Bahnasy

Investigation into the arson in presidential candidate Ahmed Shafik’s electoral campaign premises have started.

Similar news was reported in: Program: Masr Al-Gadeeda, Channel: Al-Hayat 2, Host: Moataz Al-Demerdash Program: Al-Hayat Al-Yoom, Channel: Al-Hayat, Host: Sherief Amer Program: Akhbar Masr, Channel 1”State TV”

The Ministry of Interior denies alleged 900 thousand soldiers’ participation in the

presidential elections.

Program: Al-Hayat Al-Yoom Channel: Al-Hayat Host: Sherief Amer

The Ministry of Interior decides to secure the electoral premises of the presidential candidates.

If he became president, Morsi refuses to cooperate Shafik .

Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Media Advisor said MB was holding talks with Sabahy and Abu Al-Fotouh about the presidential council.

Sabbahy meets with Abu Al-Fotouh to discuss their stance in the run-off round.

Program: Hona Al-Asema Channel: CBC Host: Lamis Al-Hadidy

The Administrative Court postpones 5 cases that call for excluding presidential candidates Shafik and Morsi from the presidential race, to June 12th.

Defense and National Security Parliament Committee demands Presidential Elections Commission to review the voters’ list database and hand them over to the presidential candidates.

Hundreds protest in Tahrir Square demanding to reject the elections results.

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Similar news was reported in: Program: 24 Hours News, Channel 1”State TV”

Program: Akhber Al-Nahar, Channel: Al-Nahar

The Wafd Party informed its members to choose the presidential candidate freely.

Program: Sabah Al-Kheir Ya Masr Channel 1”State TV”

The Administrative Court will consider the case of excluding Mohamed Morsi off the presidential race as his sons carry the American nationality.

The Supreme Constitutional Court declared that it was impossible to issue a final ruling in the so-called the political isolation law before the run-off round.

Similar news was reported in: Program: Hona Al-Asema, Channel: CBC, Host: Lamis Al-Hadidy

Program: Maweed Ma Al-Raees, Channel: Al-Nahar, Host: Reham Ibrahim

Members of the People’s Assembly disagree about extending the effectuation time of the emergency law.

Judge Ahmed Al-Fadaly, head of the Democratic Peace Party believes that more attention should be given to the Constituent Assembly crises than the elections.

Program: Akhbar Masr Channel 1”State TV”

Supreme Constitutional Court denies setting June 11th as the date to pronounce the final ruling in the political isolation law.

News Channel 2”State TV” Time: 26:00:00

Mohamed Morsi said he would form a very effective presidential organization if he won the elections.

Similar news was reported in: Program: 24 Hours News, Channel 1”State TV”

Women, children, and Copts must have a role in the presidential organization.

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Program: Yesed Sabahak Channel 2”State TV” Host: Hend Rashad

The Presidential Elections Commission declared that all the contestations were rejected and the run-off round would be between Morsi and Shafik.

Demonstrations all over Egypt to demand to cancel the elections results.

Fayza Abu Al-Nagga, Minister of International Cooperation said the government would not take part in holding the elections again.

Similar news was reported in Program: Sabah Al-Kheir Ya Masr, Channel 1”State TV”

Program: Maweed Ma Al-Raees Channel: Al-Nahar Host: Reham Ibrahim

Calm in Tahrir Square.

Similar news was reported in Program: Al-Hayat Al-An, Channel: Al-Hayat, Host: Maha Bahnasy

Tahrir Square youth call for a new million-man-march to demand excluding Shafik from the presidential race.

Mohamed Morsi vowed to form a coalition government, to assign a non partisan Prime Minister, and to form a presidential council.

Similar news was reported in Program: Al-Hayat Al-An, Channel: Al-Hayat, Host: Maha Bahnasy

TV Coverage (30/5/2012)

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Program: Al-Hayat Al-An Channel: Al-Hayat Host: Maha Bahnasy

The Muslim Brotherhood hold negotiations with political powers guarantees their support to Muhammad Mursi in the run-off round.

The Attorney General decides to refer Mubarak’s sons and 7 other suspects to Criminal Court due financial corruption cases.

Similar news was reported in: Program: Al-Hayat Al-Yoom, Channel: Al-Hayat, Host: Sherief Amer Program: Akhbar Masr, Channel 1”State TV” Program: 24 Hours News, Channel 1”State TV”

Program: Akher Al-Nahar, Channel: Al-Nahar, Host: Mahmoud Saad

The Political players demand the Muslim Brotherhood to promise to maintain the civil

ruling, protect the rights of citizenship, and preserve women rights. Program: Al-Hayat Al-Yoom Channel: Al-Hayat Host: Sherief Amer

Presidential candidate Mursi said the FJP would not be like Former NDP.

MP Essam Sultan declares his accusation against Shafik.

Program: 24 Hours News Channel 1”State TV”

Final verdicts will be pronounced on Saturday in the cases of killing the protestors and the cases of financial corruption.

Similar news was reported in Program: Masr Al-Gadeeda, Channel: Al-Hayat 2, Host: Moataz Al-Demerdash

Calm in Tahrir Square

Similar news was reported in: Program: Al-Hayat Al-Yoom, Channel: Al-Hayat, Host: Sherief Amer

Program: Akhbar Masr, Channel 1”State TV”

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Presidential candidates Shafik and Mursi electoral campaigns continue.

Similar news was reported in: Program: Al-Hayat Al-Yoom, Channel: Al-Hayat, Host: Sherief Amer

Program: Akhbar Masr, Channel 1”State TV”

Program: Akhbar Masr Channel 1”State TV”

A judicial delegation went to London to discuss getting back Egypt’s smuggled money.

Program: Yesed Sabahak Channel 2”State TV” Host: Hend Rashad and Yasser Abdel-Hakim

The Supreme Constitutional Court declared that it would be impossible to rule in the constitutional competence of the political rights law, known as the “political isolation law” before the run-off round.

Speaker of the People’s Assembly Saad al-Katatny demanded the MPs not to interfere in the elections results.

News Channel 2 “State TV” Time: 26:00:00

Emergency Law ends today.

Electoral campaigns for the run-off round have started.

Similar news was reported in Program: Mawees Ma Al-Raees, Channel: Al-Nahar, Host: Doaa Gad Allah

The political players discuss the “document of the pledge” before submitting it to the presidential candidates.

Similar news was reported in Program: Mawees Ma Al-Raees, Channel: Al-Nahar, Host: Doaa Gad Allah

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Program: Maweed Ma Al-Raees Channel: Al-Nahar Host: Doaa Gad Allah

Al-Behery will head the Supreme Constitutional Court on June 2012 preceding Sultan.

Parliament Defense Committee demands Presidential Elections Commission to review the voters’ database.

Radio Coverage (30/5/2012)

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News Channel: Radio Masr

Public Prosecution decides to refer Mubarak sons and seven other suspects to Criminal Court over stock exchange manipulation. 18:00:00

Presidential candidates Shafiq and Morsi resume their electoral campaigns. 25:00:00

News Channel: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Time: 25:00:00

Ministry of Foreign Affairs ended its preparations for the presidential elections runoff.

Egypt Protestors Coalitions called all the citizens to participate in tomorrow’s million-man-march to reject Shafiq’s presidential bid.

Internet Coverage (31/5/2012)

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Facebook We Are All Khaled Saeed:

Next Wednesday will be the second anniversary of the death of Khaled Saeed, God bless his soul. https://www.facebook.com/events/395103500541049/

12 hours into launching the national consensus documents, 66,000 citizens have approved it and more than 915,000 have been invited. Before 9pm today, we want to reach 100,000 signatures. https://www.facebook.com/events/345237388878177/

Dr. Mohamed el-Baradei: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=420112624705274&set=a.104265636289976.2684.104224996294040&type=1

Muslim brotherhood FJP Delegation Attends Islamic Culture Week in Italy, Highlights Challenges Facing Egypt's

An Egyptian delegation invited to attend the Islamic Culture Week festival in Italy visited Egypt’s embassy in the capital Rome. The delegation was received by the Egyptian Ambassador in Italy. Attending the Islamic Week events also are parliamentarians and businessmen from countries of the Arab Spring. The Egyptian delegation included Dr. Gamal Heshmat, Deputy of Foreign Relations Committee at the Egyptian People's Assembly;Dr. Hazem Farouk, Secretary of the Foreign Relations Committee; and businessman Hassan Malik, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Business Development Association (EBDA); and a number of members of Parliament as well as a group of Egyptian businessmen. In a visit to the Italian parliament, Dr. Heshmat delivered a speech about the difference between the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the dissolved National Party. Moreover, Dr. Farouk presented a research paper on "The Egyptian Model” and why it did not succeed in the sixties of the last century". Meanwhile, businessman Malik explained the EBDA Association’s experience and projects in hand – from European and other countries keen to invest in Egypt after stability is achieved, following the presidential elections. The Egyptian delegation held a meeting with the Egyptian ambassador in Italy, during

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which they discussed the potential for further communications with the Italian Parliament and arrangements for a quick meeting to activate the Egyptian-Italian Parliamentary Assembly. Further, the delegation met Egyptian trade attaché, and pointed that investment opportunities in Egypt are huge for Italian businesses, asserting that those may well be the best solution that could take the Italian economy out of its financial crisis. On the sidelines of the visit, a meeting was held between the Egyptian delegation and a number of Egyptians living in Italy. Italian state radio conducted and interview with Dr. Heshmat for an evaluation of the first round of the presidential election and expectations of the next stage – the final round of the presidential elections contest.

Morsi Presidential Campaign Announces New Slogan, New Spirit for Start of New Phase

Dr. Ahmed Abdel-Aati, campaign coordinator for presidential frontrunner Dr. Mohamed Morsi, affirmed that the campaign slogan has been changed to "Our strength, in our unity", to reflect the vision of the next stage in the campaign. This also reflects the campaign’s increased focus on building bridges of cooperation between campaign workers and all the Egyptian people, masters of the great Egyptian revolution, especially all honorable patriots from all political orientations and the electoral campaigns of patriotic candidates and revolutionaries. Dr. Morsi’s campaign hopes the coming days will witness a remarkable development in the elections, with all hues of Egyptian society coming together in support of a nation-wide project that represents the aspirations of the people of Egypt, who sacrificed for a new, modern, post-revolution Egypt... strong Egypt of the renaissance

Impossible Similarity between Freedom and Justice Party and the Dissolved National Party

It is evident that some people hate Islamic movements regardless of what they are or whatever they are about in terms of ideas, ideologies and history. It is a kind of blind hatred that makes everything Islamists does a sin, a conspiracy or a ‘private’ deal, and sometimes it is opportunism or a betrayal of the homeland. Many of those haters still dominate the political scene, even after the January 25 revolution.

Now, it also is evident that Islamists (i.e. those who believe in applying Islamic reference in their day-to-day lives) win every election contest, public (local elections or parliamentary) or professional (universities, student unions, clubs and professional associations, etc). This gives Islamists a lot of confidence, something that infuriates and motivates haters to further humiliate and fabricate fables against members and leaders of these movements.

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Those haters, with various discourses and in several locations, have private media outlets that promote their shared thoughts and interests.

One of their newer accusations against the Muslim Brotherhood is the ‘power grab’ baseless claim. On the contrary, the Brotherhood has no member in any executive position throughout the homeland.

No members of the Brotherhood are ministers, heads of boards of directors, heads of banks, governors, heads of city councils, heads of village councils, mayors, district elders, regular guard chiefs, members of the Board of Trustees of the Radio and Television, members of the National Council for Human Rights, members of the National Council for Women or ambassadors. So, how is that for a power grab?

The latest charge leveled at Islamists by these opponents now is that the FJP has turned into a new National Party, referring to Mubarak’s corrupt, now-dissolved NDP. Those haters have carefully focused this false idea in the hearts of people as a fact, by constantly casting the FJP in a negative light.

The question is how can we compare a manipulative, morally bankrupt and shameless party dissolved due to its corruption and betrayal of the interests of the Egyptian people over decades of authoritarian rule, against a new party established less than a year ago, which has already gained the confidence of the people as witnessed in the first free and fair parliamentary elections in Egypt ever?

How can we compare parliamentarians mostly tainted with administrative and financial corruption that exceeded all limits without any accountability in an unscrupulous bureaucratic system where decision-makers encouraged bribery and fraud and defended venal officials, against FJP lawmakers who evidently disappointed opponents looking for their mistakes or any evidence of corruption against them? No wonder such haters’ endeavors were frustrated, and the Brotherhood’s men and women were chosen in an Egyptian celebration of democracy unparalleled and unprecedented in decades past.

How can we compare a party that won the majority by fraud, a party that took for itself all 78 seats of the 19 parliamentarian committees, although the Muslim Brotherhood had won 20% of the People’s Assembly seats at the time, against the FJP which although the majority party in parliament’s two chambers, distributed the 19 parliamentarian committees’ positions amongst all parties in parliament, except for those who refused?

Furthermore, while the defunct NDP used to call up all it’s permanently absent MPs to influence voting on certain issues, no-one can possibly imagine the FJP’s lawmakers – who regularly attend all People’s Assembly meetings – to abuse power like that.

We cannot compare empty minds of supposed parliamentarians with weak resolve, who never submitted interpellations or implemented oversight tools without the consent of the NDP, against FJP lawmakers who act with complete freedom in the use of all parliamentary tools without any restrictions to question the government.

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On the contrary, the head of the FJP parliamentary bloc never plays any role to direct his flock of party MPs like Kamal Al-Shazli and Ahmed Ezz did. Indeed, you may often find differences of opinion among FJP members, which illustrates clearly that there is no similarity, except perhaps in the eyes of the severely biased.

Whereas the NDP never allowed any bill submitted by MPs to see the light, it always passed laws submitted by the government. By contrast, today more than half of the laws and amendments have been passed as submitted by MPs of all parties present in Parliament, without exception

Even the vote that was run by remote-control in the hands of the NDP leader, is not at all reflected in the FJP majority bloc where, for example, the Military Justice bill (to stop trying civilians before military courts) the vote was 89 against 58. That was unprecedented.

In fact, the number of achievements done for the benefit of the Egyptian people in the current parliament’s first hundred days was not done in ten years with the NDP. Also, questioning of the Interior Minister in Parliament is something that never occurred before.

Furthermore, the vote on the government political and economic statement by a roll-call never happened before with the NDP and the former regime.

So, what similarities were these haters talking about?

Even more, the NDP survived with the help and the protection of a total security and media cover, while the deliberate vilifying attack on the Muslim Brotherhood and their FJP MPs has been relentlessly ferocious until now.

Former NDP MPs are actively involved in the war waged so assiduously against the Brotherhood and its political wing.

Therefore, we ask: how can anyone equate between the oppressor and the oppressor, the tyrants and their victims?

Some claim a similarity exists: the desire to control, citing the formation of the Constituent Assembly, tasked with drawing up Egypt’s new constitution, as an example of that.

Those want to interpret the constitutional text on the formation of the constitution-writing panel (No. 60 in the Constitutional Declaration) according to their whims anddesires, seeking to completely exclude MPs from the panel, something which never happened in more than 42% of the constitutions authored in the last hundred years where parliaments and their members were the sole authority tasked with writing the constitutions.

In this regard, the FJP did agree too many others’ requests and requirements and did accept the names nominated by institutions. However, people began to withdraw, under many pressures, including a concerted, negative media campaign.

Perhaps what could be blamed on the FJP, in this matter, is that it did not intensify its endeavors for dialogue and consultation with political parties and stakeholders for better and broader consensus than it achieved.

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In any case, many solutions were offered to resolve the deadlock that delayed a major step in the democratic transformation process: authoring for the country a constitution to achieve the aspirations of the Egyptian people.

Consequently, we are in this situation now, electing a President under the constitutional declaration, which we believe should be sufficient without any annex or complement until the permanent national charter is drawn up.

Those were the most important accusations made against the FJP, with respect to the replication of the dissolved NDP’s system of governance, and our views on them refuting many of the claims and allegations leveled strongly against the Muslim Brotherhood and its party.

Such gross injustice, even repression is something we were so used to over the past decades that its absence might have caused us a certain degree of disorientation and confusion. So, we thank haters for that.

Dr. Mohamed Gamal Heshmat

University Professor and Member of Parliament

Twitter

@AsmaaMahfouz I am not Islamophobic or hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood but I have to ask you: Were

all the decisions taken by the Guidance Office or by the Parliament in favor of SCAF or not?

Both Morsi and Shafik do not accept distrusting the military junta.

Shafiq and Morsi are two faces of the same coin. One of them wants to restore the legitimacy of the old regime and the other is striving to achieve legitimacy for the Muslim Brotherhood. I will not participate in this farce just because it is the only alternative we have.

@Ghonim

The National Consensus Charter was signed by 35.000 people within three hours of its launch and the invitation was sent to nearly half a million Egyptians: http://on.fb.me/KxAXxT‏

@Arabist

“An Arab Citizen - Egypt's Liberals Draft 12-Point Charter Of The Covenant: http://bit.ly/JSFTKS”

“To celebrate the end of the Emergency Law I am hosting a looting and arson campaign tonight in Heliopolis. Who's in?”

“Poor Egypt. Because it has no laws against theft, drug-dealing, terrorism or thuggery it must resort to the Emergency Law.”

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“Activist Abdel-Fattah summoned for questioning over Shafiq HQ fire - Ahram Online”

“Did ElBaradei accept Morsi's offer for PM yet?”

“The Brothers represent one side of factions that seem(ed?) willing to accommodate the military.”

“People who want a radical rupture with past governance, no old regime remnants in power, army influence very curtailed.”

“New on Arabist: ⇛ The International Response to Syria After the Houla Massacre http://arb.st/KG7mk1”

@Iyad_ElBaghdadi

“When you ban something, you're not eradicating it. You're just forcing it to take a new shape & form.”

“Just did a phone interview with French magazine Jeune Afrique about#Egypt's coming elections round.”

“A crime isn't justified just because criminals are a majority.”

“Reading philosophy doesn't make you a philosopher. Philosophy is an activity, not a tradition.”

“We need to realize that we share a destiny with our enemies.”

“Our Arab Spring was a spurt of growth, dynamic and chaotic. We need to give it structure and order or it can't last.”

“A tree to me represents the perfect analogy for synergy of chaos and order, growth and structure, dynamic and static.”

“A tree that's all static, structure, order is dead. A tree that's all growth, dynamic, chaos is doomed to be crawler.”

“Men never risk life and livelihood in revolt against something not worth revolting against.”

@Gsquare86 “I won’t minimize those who will vote for Morsi out of failure in finding a 3rd way.If we

didn’t fail, we wouldn’t be in this difficult place.”

“I do not doubt the loyalty of those who want to boycott (i was one of them) and at the same time I am searching for a third way #RevSoc”

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“Until then, let’s plz not attack each other & work on our disagreements to find a common ground and a solution instead of attacks on#RevSoc”

“Despite my stand on boycotting from the beginning and my difference w/ the statement. I completely refuse attacks & accusations to#RevSoc”

“#RevSoc has a clear stand, whether u agree or disagree,u r more than welcome, but i ‘ll defend it when you question their loyalty to the rev”

“I have taken different stands before against #RevSoc yet I respect it and proud to be part of a revolutionary movement despite disagreements”

“It’s really unfortunate that some friends & comrades r using their disagreements to question #RevSoc loyalty & cursing it. I don’t accept it”

@WaelAbbas

How my blog looked like back in 2005: ‎http://web.archive.org/web/20050405121757/http://misrdigital.blogspirit.com/‏

It seems clear now that military generals want to put Alaa Abdel Fattah in prison and kill me in an unknown accident!

@Monasosh They randomly arrested people who were near Shafiq’s campaign headquarters; two of

them were released and another two were referred to the prosecution.

Large groups of Al-Abbasiya detainees will have a session tomorrow to renew their detention orders, please pray for them!

Publication overview

Al-Ahram: Egyptian state-run official daily newspaper

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Founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya (English: The Egyptian Events, founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian government.

Al-Akhbar: Egyptian state-owned semi-official daily newspaper

It was founded in May 1952 as a part of Akhbar El Yom.

Al-Gomhoria: Egyptian state-owned daily newspaper

An influential state-owned Egyptian Arabic language daily newspaper. It was established in 1954.

Al-Shorouk: Egyptian daily independent newspaper

Are a prominent Arabic newspaper published in Egypt [1] and several other Arabic nations It is a daily independent newspaper, covering mainly politics, militant affairs and sport.

Al-Masry al-Yom: Independent daily newspaper

On 7 June 2004, it published its first edition. The paper initially circulated primarily amongst Cairo’s intellectual elite, providing objective news coverage in the belief that good news would beat sensationalist reporting found in other Egyptian print media. After 3 years, it was challenging Al-Ahram for the status of being the national paper of record. Though

Tahrir: Daily independent newspaper

Dostor: Daily independent newspaper

Yom 7: Daily independent newspaper

Table of Content: Newspapers ………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………3-32 Al Ahram Newspaper Disagreement on Amnesty Law………………………………………………………….………………………………………3 7 Movements in Assyout Boycott the Elections…………………………………………………………………………………4

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Presidential Campaign Funds and Expatriates’ Runoffs………………………………...…………………………………….5 Al-Ahram’s Updates on Presidential Race……………………………………………………………………………………6-7 Mubarak’s Trial…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8 Al masry al youm Newspaper Morsi Changes Slogan…………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………9 FJP Meets April 6 and Sabahi Campaign…………………………………………………………………...………………….10 Secret Meeting between NDP Leaders and Former State Security Officer……………………..…………………………..11 Muslim Preacher to Establish New Political Party………………………………………………..…………………………..12

AL Gomhoria newspaper.. The Muslim Brotherhood; a Battle of Life or Death………………………………………………………………….………..13 Sabahi’s Campaign Denies Muslim Brotherhood’s Allegations………………………………………………….………….14

Al dostour Newspaper Public Prosecution Investigates Shafiq Premises Arson…………………………………………………………………….15 Advisory Council Urges Powers to Accept Election Results…………………………………………………..……………16 Shafiq is Best Choice for Transitional Period…………………………………………………………………….…………….17 Khaled Ali Denies Setting Fire to Shafiq premises……………………………………………………………………………18 Psychological Analysis of Morsi and Shafiq……………………………………………………….…………………………..19

Al Tahrir Newspaper… Major General El-Fangari: We Will Remain Neutral during Runoff……………………………………………………….20 Presidential Race Heats Up amid Fuel Crisis…………………………………………………………………………………21 Court to Issue Verdict in Mubarak’s Trial………………………………………………………………………………..……22 No Guarantees to Elect Former Regime Remnants or MB Candidate………………………………………………………23

Al Sherouk Newspaper.. The Constituent Assembly and the Presidential Elections……………………………….…………………………………24 Al-Sunni from the Capital Crime to Prison ………………………………………………………………….……………….25 Sabahi and Abu al-Futouh ………………………………………………………………………………….………………….26 Al youm al 7 newspaper Parties Postpone Discussion of Constituent Assembly’s Criteria……………………………………………….………….27 Political Forces Divided on Decision from Emergency Law………………………………………………………………..28

Al Akhbar Newspaper Tahrir Calm Ahead of Planned Protests………………………………………………….……………………………………29 Advisory Council Urges Political Powers to Accept Election Results………………………………………………………30 Azhar Denies Issuing Fatwa Banning Votes for Shafiq………………………………………………...……………………..31 Interior Ministry Rebuts Reports about Hiring Thugs during Runoffs………………………….…………………………32

TV Coverage…………………………………………………………..………...……...………...….………..…33-38

Al-Hayat …………………………………………………………………………………………….……………….………..33-36 CBC ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……33-34 Channel 1………………………………………………………………………………….…………….….………...….….…34-36 Channel 2……………………………………………………………………………………………………...……………34-35-37 Al nahar ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….35-38

Radio Coverage…………………………………………………………………..………..……….…………….…..………..39 Radio Masr …………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………….39 Al-Shark Al-Awsat ………………………………………………………………………………………...…………………….39

Internet coverage……………………………………………………………………….……......……….…....……..…… 40-46 Facebook……………………………………………………………….…………………………………...……….……………..40 Muslim brotherhood.................................................................................................................................................................40-44 Twitter……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………44-46

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