The Voter’s Voice Project - Final Report
Transcript of The Voter’s Voice Project - Final Report
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The Voters VoiceProject
Final ReportFinal ReportFinal ReportFinal Report
2008 Municipal Election2008 Municipal Election2008 Municipal Election2008 Municipal Electionssss
Back to Square OneBack to Square OneBack to Square OneBack to Square One
Prepared By
Principal Researcher Statistical Advisor
Sameh Fawzi Dr.Ayman Zohry
Supervision
Ayman Okail
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Final Report 2008 Municipal Election Back to Square One
Prepared by
Principal researcher statistical advisor
Sameh Fawzi Dr. Ayman Zohry
Publisher
Maat for juridical and Constitutional Studies
The technical preparation and design of the cover:
Fathi Abdel-Alim
Registration Number: /2008
Supported By
Middle East Partnership Initiative
Address
King Faisal Street- Borg Al-Atebaa- 9thFloor-Appt. 908-Giza
Tel : 37759512))))2((((20++++
Fax : 37759512))))2((((20++++
Mobile: 6521175012))))2((((20++++&&&&6521170012))))2((((20++++012
Email : [email protected] & [email protected]
Website : www.maat-law.org & www. maatpeace.org
Director of the Centre:
Mr. Ayman Okeil
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.maat-law.org/http://www.maat-law.org/http://www.maat-law.org/http://www.maat-law.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected] -
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About Maat
The Vision :
Under the umbrella of what our country witnesses recently such as intensifying
reformation claims, dedicating the concept of the state of institutions, the
sovereignty of the law and the positive steps that have been taken towards
supporting democracy. Therefore, it is our duty to have our own role to protect the
democratic gains and in performing positive role in pushing the reformation march
forward.
Thus, Maat center attempts to raise a generation that believe in the positive
participation in general affairs and in developing and activating the laws related to
these affairs.
Hence, Maat centers great concern is to increase legal awareness among the youth
in general and the youth lawyers in particular to qualify them and to guide them to
the right path to be able to deliver their message in the society sufficiently and
peacefully.
More over, Maat attempts to propagate, establish and strengthen the concept and
culture of democracy and peace among the Egyptian community, especially youth,
women and The Christians.
Therefore Maat endeavors to achieve the following objectives :
1- To propagate, enhance and strengthen the culture of peace, democracy, human
rights, denouncing violence and combating crime and corruption.
2- To activate the international charters and agreements that support the
everlasting and justice peace as well as human rights and increasing the general
awareness of it.
3- To enhance and encourage the democratic actions, the aware ruling and the
sovereignty of law.
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4-To increase the citizens awareness of the legal and constitutional rights.
5- Increasing the awareness of the youth leadership in the civil community
institutions and training them.
6-To prepare studies and researches to contribute in developing the legislative
building.
7-To offer legal and judicial support to the oppressed classes before the specialize
bodies and holding the symposiums ,conferences ,workshops ,training courses
awareness companies as well as publishing books ,reports and shifts and preparing
field researches and studies concerning Maats activities and enhancing
coordination , cooperation and exchanging experiences among the civil community
institutions, the local regional and international organizations .
Mechanisms:
Maat in achieving its aims depends mainly on the coming mechanisms:
1- Suing the judicial cases and offering legal help and support.
2- Observing the violations of human rights and confronting them legally.
3- Holding legal awareness campaigns to improve general participation and human
rights.
4-Holding campaigns to publish the culture of peace, denouncing violence and the
culture of others acceptance.
5-preparing legal and constitutional researches and studies.
6- Publishing legal booklets and reports.
7-Holding training courses, workshops, symposiums and conferences.
8-Establishing legal library to help the scholars in the field of human rights.
General Manager
Ayman Okail
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Maat Centre for juridical and Constitutional Studies is verythankful for the research team responsible for the data entryprocess and review of survey questionnaires for the tremendouseffort in order to compile the final report. The centre is alsothankful to the administrative team for supervising the executionof the project, the keenness on following-up all project details inorder to present a success model of monitoring Egyptian electionand the difficulties and challenges which the team succeeded to
overcome in order to achieve their mission.
(Ayman Okeil)
List of Civil Society Organizations, which contributed to the execution of the
monitoring process:
One World Foundation for Development
Masreya Organization
Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights
Al Oun Association for Human Rights
Al Orouba Association for Human Rights
Justice and Citizenship Rights Foundation
The International Justice Centre for Legal Consultancies and Law
Tariq Al Nour Association
Justice and Citizenship Rights Centre
Thanks to:
Mr. Abd El- Nasser Kandil Project Director for his efforts to enrich the final
report of the project and for the sample papers presented to the research team
and which contributed to the final report of the project in a unique way.
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Preface
Elections are considered to be the democratic means for enforcing or changing
governance, being a mechanism for guaranteeing public participation and proper
representation of the existing governing system of the desires and orientation of
societys forces and for that reason, the existing governing system remains and its
officials maintain their seats of power, where they exercise their authorities and execute
their plans and programs, which aim at maintaining their interaction with citizens in
general and with voters in particular.
The Egyptian society has been exposed to various uses of democracy throughout its
history according to the wants and desires of the ruling class, which drove citizens to
avoid participating in democratic practice, despite the important role which democracy
plays in their lives.
During the last few years, several initiatives appeared in the horizon as a natural result
of the state of political and social turmoil- aiming at supporting public participation and
regaining masses as an essential party in the political reform equation. These initiatives
were the ones where civil society organizations played a simple role in developing them,
especially, after becoming a vital and essential partner to the reform process in order to
create a reality which recognizes the right of civil society organizations to discussdevelopment projects, amendments of laws and monitoring tools of practicing
democracy in order to measure the extend of its abidance by criteria of transparency and
accountability, stated for in international covenants and treaties.
Some may have some doubts when reviewing the details of the confrontation between
the executive power and human rights organizations within the framework of attempting
to determine the right of monitoring Egyptian general elections (this is the confrontation,
where human rights organizations succeeded in exercising its will either through court
rulings or through decisions of the Supreme Electoral committee). The source of doubts
might be the belief that the Egyptian experience is still very recent in monitoring
elections; nevertheless, reality indicates the contrary, since civil society organizations
have been striving to play that role for quiet a long time. The Egyptian experience in
monitoring elections developed and accumulated expertise over the decades until it
managed to invent creative patterns and modes of monitoring elections stemming from
the Egyptian political environment and matching patterns of Egyptian thought, which
aims at developing its local experience and revealing the violations and breaches so that
it can be avoided in the future.
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The Voters Voice Project, carried out by Maat Centre for Legal and Constitutional
Studies, jointly with One World Foundation for Human Development and with support
of the Middle East Partnership Initiative(MEPI), is considered to be a model for a newmonitoring pattern, which took care of the importance of the voter and his/her public
orientation towards the practices and methods of the electoral process and at the same
time identifying the voters tendencies and biases of either acceptances or refusal. All in
all, the project is considered to be an experience worth of interest for the future record
and for further reference for building an electoral picture that is suitable for the interests
and ambitions of the Egyptian voter.
There is not doubt that the Egyptian voter was more than eager for the municipal
elections, since municipal elections in Egypt are not elite elections but more of a bigger
test for tribal ties in the Egyptian countryside. Additionally, the municipal elections areconsidered to be an opportunity for political parties, which are aiming at enforcing its
positions and its direct relationships with the masses and building real calibers capable
of dealing with their political environment without requiring a lot of financial support as
it was the case in the parliamentary elections, where parliament seats were booked for
candidates who are capable of paying more and who are capable of being the most
violent, as opposed to municipal elections, despite being accused of corruption,
municipal elections have been less violent and more influential for several reasons:
Firstly: Having a lot of candidates, which alleviates the pressure and tension and
increases the chances of forming alliances between candidates
Secondly: having a limited geographical coverage relating between voters and
candidates which allows voters to make a better choice based on their free will and
based on well-defined basics and principles rather than being based on tribal or
communal ties.
Lastly: The importance of municipal elections lies in the general atmosphere
accompanying the time of its announcement, where there existed a state of political
turmoil which gave certain new political forces an excellent opportunity of testing its
influence on the masses amidst amending a series of procedures and laws regulating the
electoral process. Thus, the municipal elections were a practical application of theinfluence of democratic reform on society, whether positive or negative.
Nevertheless, we can not safely maintain that the current round of municipal elections
brought a new addition to the scene to enforce the path of reform and pumping fresh
blood into the veins of the governing system on the individual or policy levels.
The municipal elections resembled an attempt where all parties concerned represented
what should have taken place in real election. The ruling system did not give more
attention than it usually gives, the opposition was busy with its internal problems and
conflicts and the ruling NDP dealt with the elections as a promotion for its calibers or a
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rotation of seats between them. Thus, everyone competed but with no win and everyone
walked but they were back to square one.
Introduction and ChallengesMaat Centre for Legal and Constitutional Studies was keen on presenting an initiative
for monitoring municipal elections as one of the forms of monitoring and following up
the elections despite the fact that the municipal elections, which were held in April of
2008, were held 2 years later than its expected date, according to the decision of the
Peoples Assembly not to hold the elections unless after a new law for Municipal
Administration has been approved and promulgated( which did not happen) and despite
the recent constitutional amendments, which included 34 articles of the Constitution and
which have been issued for a referendum on March 26th
, 2007, i.e. more than a yearbefore holding the elections. Such amendments were said to support decentralization and
empowering the concept of local governance (which has never been proven till now).
Maat Centre for Legal and Constitutional Studies considers monitoring of municipal
elections as one of the tasks, which civil society aims at realizing in order to guarantee
the its interaction with citizens, developing the culture of political participation and
enforcing the importance of a peaceful transfer of power through agreement and
disagreement while respecting the rights of others within a framework of values and
ethics, which have been stated for in international treaties and covenants, domestically
and internationally.
Out of the expertise, which Maat Centre for Legal and Constitutional Studies has
accumulated over the years in monitoring elections since its foundation in 2005. The
idea of monitoring elections has been carried out with a self-support and in cooperation
of One Word Foundation for Human Development and the Human Development
Association.
It has been taken into account, while designing the Voice of the Voter Project, to get out
of the narrow framework for monitoring, which leaves all matters in the hands of the
supervisor or the person monitoring the elections, who is sometimes, one of the politicalactivists, who adopts certain points of views towards the procedures taken and thus
presents his/her personal vision rather than the point of view of a person monitoring
elections, which is supposed to be unbiased. This is has been a drawback, which the
Egyptian experience of monitoring elections suffered from. This drawback drove us to
experiment new forms of mentoring tools and mechanisms in order to reach the most
neutral forms of monitoring elections.
As for the 2008 municipal elections, we depended in our recording of the electoral
process on the participation of voters in the monitoring process and recording events
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inside and outside the election committees to have our project turn into the voice of the
voter who carries out the analysis and observation of what he/she actually witnesses as
one form of supporting participation and motivating competition so as to promotedemocratic practices desired by most Egyptians.
More importantly, we have witnessed an exceptional number of monitoring teams in the
Egyptian monitoring experience, since our project did not stop at the opinions and views
of observers and field researchers, who reached nearly 1034 researcher in addition to
9400 voters, participated with their views and suggestions. Our teams managed to reach
the most difficult dimension of the electoral process, which is the secret ballot to acquire
information, and analyses, creating the largest experience for a monitoring team whose
numbers reached 10000 individuals.
Despite of all the difficulties and challenges faced, the samples and surveys of the
project at hand represent an addition to the Egyptian monitoring experience, to voters
and to the monitoring team. We aim to present a final report that can serve as a
document worth of analysis and become a future reference.
We are thankful for funding entities for the support they granted us in order to carry out
this monitoring project an for our partners in executing this project on the level of target
governorates and on the level of researchers who have shared with us every step of the
project and finally, we are thankful to the work team at Maat Centre for Legal and
Constitutional Studies, who have borne a lot with us in order to achieve what we have
achieved till the present moment.
Challenges of the ExperienceResorting to what is called, a voter questionnaire is considered to be a new
phenomenon in the electoral process, with its different dimensions, which is not familiar
among the methods of monitoring elections in the Arab region in general and in the
Egyptian society in particular. Thus, it was natural for this new method to be met with
challenges stemming from the novelty of the experience, however, most electoralentities got used to it since it is considered as an expression of a modern democratic
society. There are a number of challenges, which we can touch upon in this experience
as a way of evaluating the experience, aiming at developing future electoral experiences,
which are:
1.
There is a large tendency among voters towards mode answers and that is representinganswers to questions about what should be and not what actually is. That explains why
the answers to some questions scored 100 %. This is a state, which we can find in
societies undergoing a democratic transition, where there is a tendency among citizens
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to fear criticism and talk about positives more than negatives. This state is expected to
disappear with the passage of time, where the voter discovers constructive criticism
and real interaction with political phenomena, which helps the development of thepolitical process and the achievement of democratic transition.
2.
The large similarity in answers between voters and that is also due to the large
tendency towards model answers, let alone the fact that majority of voters belong to
the ruling party, the NDP. This in turn explains the small number of candidates from
the opposition or independent candidates and the weak public participation in the
elections in general. It is worth mentioning the boycotting, which has been called forby the Muslim Brotherhood and Kefaya movement.
3.
The study did not present a full visualization of the opinions and preferences of voters
despite the variety of questions- regarding a lot of issues, most important among
which is voters expectations of the future forms of democratic practices being the
main foundation of the process of democratic reform, their stance from political
parties. This is due to the limited experience of municipal elections and the limited
number of opposition and independent candidates in such elections. However, this
does not jeopardize the fact that some of the main results of the study can be beneficial
for future projects, most importantly, the absence of the concept of an election
program in municipal elections, the incapability of voters to understand the
dimensions of the municipal system and the importance of the role of the media inraising the awareness of municipal issues.
4.
The questionnaire and thus the study did not include the opinion of voters regardingthe election committees so as to its organization, cleanness and facilities, which
represents in itself a main element of attracting voters and getting to know their
preferences. This is due to the desire to focus on vital issues related to the safety of theelectoral process such as the phosphoric ink, the interference of electoral brokers and
representatives to influence voters inside poll centers, the existence of a curtain behindwhich the voter casts his/her vote and voting inside a glass ballot. These issues
represented the main focus of this study, however, there are other important issues
related to the organization and cleanness of poll centers, which should occupy a
position of importance in future studies. There might be certain financial and practical
restrictions related to the organization of electoral committees, given the fact that thereis a large dependency on the use of schools, which suffer from poor facilities in
impoverished areas. However, measuring the opinion of voters shall remain necessary
in this regard, upon which detailed projects can be suggested regarding the
development of electoral committees and modernizing the electoral process such as
the use of e-mail.
5.The experience faced some challenges due to the lack of awareness of the voter. Thisresulted in non-cooperative attitude on behalf of voters. This is again due to the
novelty of the experience locally and regionally. This can only be solved by
continuing to depend on this method in monitoring election in the future.
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Final Results
Firstly:the target sample represented 19 governorates with the rate of 73 % of Egyptiangovernorates, in addition to its gender diversity (male Vs female) and age difference(
youth-elderly) aiming at reaching an objective point of view of municipal elections
explaining reasons of low participation, vote tendencies, degree of awareness of laws
and regulations regulating the electoral process.
Cairo came in the first place as to the interest of voters in cooperating with researchers,
number of Cairo samples reached 1690 samples amounting to 20.1% out of the total
number of research surveys and that is a natural matter in the light of the increased
number of voters and electoral districts in Cairo and the degree of awareness, whichrendered caireens more cooperative and keen on giving their opinions and point of views
regarding what is happening in their surrounding community, especially that our society
is going through circumstances, which necessitates participation.
Dakhliyah governorate came in the second place, which represents the governorates of
Lower Egypt that experiences a state of political competition between social forces and
movements. Dakhliyah represents a model of political conflict amidst a huge eagerness
from candidates for participation in all elections. This eagerness guaranteed the
representation of all political forces and tendencies and enforces the development of
electoral awareness of citizens, whose numbers reached 789 in the samples amounting to
9.4 % . It is possible for us to review the previous increased rate in addition to the large
number of districts and municipal levels as opposed to other major governorates, where
elections have been determined through consent, which in turn led to the decrease of
participation rates and number of samples such as Alexandria (4.7 %), Mounoufiya (2.3
%), Damietta (3.5 %) and Giza (6.7 %).
While the least governorate so as to the rates of participation was the governorate of
Kafr El- Sheikh, where the number of participants in the survey reached 189 amounting
to 2.2 %. This is can be explained by determining a number of electoral districts byconsent. Also, the state of fear prevailing between the citizens of Al-Mounoufiya due to
the behavior of the executive authorities during elections, especially, security
authorities. This can be measured by the state of hesitation and refusal to participate in
the vote and to cooperate with our researchers. Number of samples from Al-Mounoufiya
reached 87 samples amounting to 24.8 % out of the total number of surveys.
Regarding the average age of voters and measuring their point of views, bearing in mind
the communal needs, the degree of belief in the different methods and means of change
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and the feeling of citizens towards the effect of their participation. It is worth noting that
the average age of voters influences their decisions.
The age category of 30-39 scored the first place, with the percentage of 38.7 %, since
such voters are the more prone to be influenced with their mind rather than their
feelings. This age category is more interested in improving their living conditions and in
participating in their municipal councils and thus they are keen on participating in the
vote.
As for the age category of 18-29, which is beginning to be transformed into an important
force, which must not be underestimated, especially with the amendment of the Law of
exercising political rights? The law rendered those born in 1984 and afterwardsautomatically registered in electoral schedules according to the place of birth or the
desire of the voter. This rendered this age category influential in the elections and thus
must be convinced with the electoral party seeking to achieve its electoral platform.
The percentage of youth belonging to this category reached 21.2%, which is a very
reasonable percentage, compared to voters who are distrustful of the electoral process. It
is worth noting the feelings of alienation suffered by this age category, which usually
leads them to think of immigration, whether legal or illegal through illegal channels,
which are recently on the rise.
In spite of the average number of voters belonging to this age group, the boldness and
sharpness in expressing their point of views compensated for their average number. This
was considered as addition to the study as it helped in proposing new suggestions and
point of views for dealing with the violations and negatives, which are usually reported
in Egyptian elections.
On the gender level, the number of male voters, who have participated in the survey
6182 with a percentage 73.4 % and this is a large percentage matching the nature of the
Egyptian society, which is living a state of gender discrimination for the favor of malesaccording to traditions and customs, especially in Upper Egypt.. This discrimination
grants males skills and experiences not available for females. This led to the reality that
it is rare to find women candidates in elections. Also, this led to the appearance of
appointment for women in the different electoral levels. The percentage of women in the
sample reached 26.6% , that is 2240 voters.
Secondly:The ministerial decree of the Minister of Interior No.359/2008 was issued to
state for the legal regulations regulating the election campaign process in the general
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elections for municipal councils. The decree defined an expense ceiling of EGP 20,000
to be spent according to regulations and criteria, which can not be violated.
Such regulations are considered to be a good model for decisions regulating the general
elections in Egypt, specially that the decree includes an authorization for policemen to
take all required legal procedures for regulating the electoral process among candidates
in addition to creating the proper atmosphere for legal competition among them.
However, the reality indicates a lack of interest in executing the decree and its rules, for
instance, the Muslim Brotherhood used a religious symbol in its electoral campaign,
nevertheless, the security authorities didnt use its authorization against these violation.
Let alone the general elections which witnesses a flow of different forms of
campaigning, municipal election witnessed a limited flow of election campaigns, since
districts are smaller in size and there is a bigger chance of direct interaction between
candidates and voters.
Although the law regulates placing signs and advertisements infront of poll centers on
the election day, some election committees witnessed many violations, with varying
percentages in different governorates according to the nature of competition and the
influence of candidates. There were indications in some samples of 100 % violations in
governorates like Aswan, Port Said and Kafr El-Sheikh, while there were indications of
96 % violations in Cairo especially in districts of Kasr El-Nil and Dar Al-Salam.
While the least places in violating rules of election campaigns, surrounding committees
were in Al-Menya governorate 7.5 % and Qalubiyah governorate 28.8%. This can be
explained by the lack of competition in those governorates.
As for governorates, where the NDP dominated election campaigns around electoral
committees, Port Said came with 99.6 %, Aswan 99.5%, Suez 99% and Kafr El-Sheikh
97.4% at the time where NDP election campaigns decreased in Mounfouyia 23.5%,Sharkiyah 19.7%, Menya 19.5%.Assiout 13.6% and Bani Suief 10.3%. These
percentages show the lack of a unified method in managing election campaigns and the
obligation of the executive power to support NDP party lists, regardless of the
possibility of losing a limited number of seats for opposition or independent candidates.
Election campaigns play a decisive role in securing the vote and success possibilities for
many candidates. As for independent candidates, their election campaigns concentrated
in governorates, which witnessed objections and strikes against the membership of the
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NDP, which led many NDP members to nominate themselves as independent
candidates.
The phenomenon of independent candidates caused a lot of fear for the NDP due to
losing seats won by independent candidates for the favor of the Muslim Brotherhood or
the opposition. This led the NDP to hold negotiations with some independent candidates
to convince them of returning back or joining the NDP.
The highest percentage of election campaigns for independent candidates were in Menya
71.4%, Giza 61%, and Gharbiyah 60.2% and Assiout 59%.
It is rather strange that all candidates place election propaganda outside electoralcommittees despite being against the law, without confessing it is violating the law. On
the other hand, most non-NDP candidates always complain of NDP violation of the law.
This obviously requires a review of the existing political address of most existing
political forces in addition to empowering the Law on the exercise of political rights.
Thirdly: The religious element forms one of the main components of the Egyptian
personality. Thus, religion can play an important role in the lives of Egyptians and in
mobilizing them for or against any group inside or outside the country. It is worth
mentioning that religious symbols in election propaganda were a controversial issue.
The Egyptian government has allowed for such symbols for some time as an attempt to
create a unified vision for all citizens, until proponents of religious symbols took up
arms, for instance, Hassan Al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, which
played and still plays a vital role in modern Egyptian political life.
Since the first instance of founding the Muslim Brotherhood, it closely related itself with
the religious slogan, thus, using it to reach its goal and became a controversial political
group competing with other forces refusing to mix religion with politics and promotes a
civil society, built on citizenship and religious freedom granted by the Egyptian
Constitution.
With the huge success achieved by the Muslim Brotherhood as they won 88 seats in the
Peoples' Assembly. The battle of using religious symbols in the elections moved from
the political scene to electoral violation regarding the slogan" Islam is the Solution",
raised by the Muslim Brotherhood and its influence on electoral competition or in the
case on non-Muslim candidates and voters.
Given the ruling issued by the Supreme Administrative Court not considering slogans
used by the Muslim Brothers as slogans violating the law, tension increased and the
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creation of legal texts rendering the court ruling as unconstitutional, until article 5 of the
Egyptian Constitution was amended to state for, "It is not permissible to exercise any
political activity or to form political parties with a religious reference or background."Afterwards, the Supreme Elections Committee issued its decree No.5/2007 stating for
the regulation regaling electoral propaganda, which included article 2 stating for abiding
by the national unity and a ban on the use of any religious symbols in election
campaigns. Furthermore, the Ministry of Interior issued its decree No. 359/2008
regarding the legal regulations regulating the electoral process, which stated for the
same text stated for in decree No.5/2007. This represented a legislative framework
refusing the use of the religious slogan.
Thus, the rate of using a religious slogan decreased in most electoral propaganda, forinstance, the religious slogan disappeared completely in Aswan, while its rates ranged
from 97.3% in Kafr El-Sheikh, 97.2% in Port Said, 95% in Suez and 93% in Cairo.
There is another reason explaining the decrease in the use of the religious symbol, other
than the legislative framework, which is the lack of a unified aim or objective behind the
religious slogan used, to the extend that some voters think that the use of a religious
slogan became a must to make use of the influence it has on the vote.
Despite the several attempts of the Muslim Brothers to pressurize the executive power in
order to change its attitude towards the Muslim Brotherhood , either through filing court
cases, which reached 3912 case, in order to enable their candidates to be enlisted in
election lists or through the use of strikes and riots. In Dakhliyah, more than 25 thousand
individuals went on strike. However, this did not put an end to the challenges faced the
Muslim Brothers and they finally decide to withdraw from the elections.
Fourthly: Prior to the municipal elections, there was a lot of talk about supporting the
participation of women and guaranteeing women representation in parliamentary
councils through elections rather than appointment, which matches the constitutional
amendment of article 62 stating for," the elections shall be held according to theelectoral system determined by the law, so as to grant the representation of political
parties and enable the representation of women in both houses and it is permissible for
the law to use the a single party vote or a party list system with any percentage, also the
system shall include a minimum representation of women in both houses". NDP officials
stressed the fact that party lists shall include a 5% allocated for women.
At the same time, the National Council for Women called for women participation in
elections and asked political parties to include women in their party lists. Furthermore,
the Council announced that it shall hold meetings with party heads to guarantee the
success of the idea, in addition to the preparation of development and qualification
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programs to train female candidates in order to guarantee a positive participation of
women.
Elections results were good in this regard, as the NDP presented nearly 3000 women
candidates, despite the existence of minor cases of violation such as the case of Dr.
Hanan Al-Hwairi, who was a candidate for Aswan and was excluded. Dr. Hwairi went
on strike, along with 6 members from the Peoples' Assembly and the Shura Council.
The NDP remains the best party so as to the participation of women, compared with the
Wafd party which had only 24 women candidates out of 508 candidates amounting to
4.7%, Al-Tagmu party had 16 women candidates out of 243 candidates amounting to
6.8%, while data from other parties regarding women candidates were not available. TheDemocratic Front Party did not have any women candidates in the municipal elections.
The above results were reflected on the degree of awareness of voters regarding the
participation of women in the elections. Most voters were not able, when questioned, to
define the number of women candidates in municipal elections. 94.5 % from Suez
indicated the absence of women, 68% from Port Said, 50.4% from Qalubiyah, 40.4%
from Kafr El-Sheikh and 39.4% from Cairo indicated the same thing.
Those who indicated that only one-woman candidate was nominated were 70.6% from
Dakhliyah, 68.4% from Al-Mounoufiya,63.2% from Damietta, and 51.5% from
Gharbiyah. Those who indicated that there were three women candidates were 74.4%
from Alexandria, and 22.2% from Qena.
The obvious difference in data reflects the high degree of unawareness of the
representation of women in municipal elections, in addition to the absence of a female
model, which can attract voters through her personality and platform. Most NDP women
candidates depended heavily on being in the official party lists and thus did not do any
election propaganda.
Despite the above, voters maintain very positive views regarding the participation of
women in the elections.66.4% of the researched sample indicated their acceptance of
women participation in the elections on equal footage with men. This can be taken as a
sign of mental maturity and the collapse of restrictions, which traditionally refused the
participation of women in political life. While the percentage of those refusing the
participation of women reached 15.5% males and 13.7% females.
This positive view was reflected in the success of 2621 women candidates amounting to
4.4%, with 7 women candidates from Tagamu and 9 from Al-Wafd Party, despite the
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weakness of this percentage if compared to the total number of seats in municipal
councils, nearly 52 thousand seats.
There remains a huge effort to be exerted to build on what has been achieved. There
needs to be a huge effort to continue to present effective and influential women
candidates in the elections, so that it can affect and shift the voters' trend towards more
women candidates and thus securing the representation of women.
Fifthly: The phenomenon of buying votes represented an important dimension of the
Peoples' Assembly's elections 2005. The competition process appeared as an economic
market, where voters get the price for their vote. This phenomenon becomes widespread
through social and personal services, including either a direct financial element or anindirect gifts and commodities element.
We can attempt to understand this phenomenon through the fact that voters from the
middle class, which should represent the majority of the vote, are no longer interested in
casting their vote, this led to the shrinking of the role of that class of voters, leaving the
vote for poorer voters, whose survival needs forces them to barter their votes with a
return, either financial or non-financial.
There is a consensus that electoral bribes represent that way to corrupting the elections
and interfering in its results. All political forces called for confronting the danger of
bribery on social values (social-political-economic) and putting legal regulations in
order to have the best results out of the electoral process.
All legal regulations regulating the election process, whether the decree No.5/2007 or
359/2008, prohibit candidates from receiving any external funds to spend on their
election campaigns or to give it to voters.
In the light of the above regulations, we find out that there is a considerable decrease in
bribery in municipal elections, since 62.3% of the researched sample indicated theabsence of the phenomenon in the current elections, where 50 % from Sharkiyah, 49.3%
from Qena, 46.6% from Sohag, and 46.3% from Monoufiya indicated that bribery still
exists in elections.
Those who have indicated that they have met an elections broker in person are 72 %
from Alexandria, 60 % from Cairo, 57.5% from Sohag and 51.9% from Qalubiyah, at
the same time, the percentage who have indicated that they have not witnessed
brokerage or bribery in the elections are 62.3%. There was a percentage 49.8%, which
assumed the existence of bribery from their experiences in previous elections.
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As for the instances, where voters were being tempted with gifts or commodities, 67.3%
from the researched sample indicated the absence of this phenomenon, where 100 % inAswan,98.9% in Kafr El-Sheikh, 98.6% in Port Said and 98.5% in Suez. While 14.1%
indicated the existence of tangible bribes, especially 29 % in Sohag, 27.5 % in
Gharbiyah, 26.5% in Sharkiyah and 25.5% in Qena.
The phenomenon of tangible bribery can be explained through the widespread of
shantytowns around cities, where poverty is abundant and people are mostly needy and
unable to secure their basic needs. In addition to the fact that the race in municipal
elections is not between two candidates, however, between more than 25 candidates,
which increases the tension of competition and forces candidates to spend more onpropaganda and buying votes.
Sixthly:The security attitude represents one of the most important criteria for measuring
the degree of transparency and neutrality of the electoral process and the degree of
compliance with laws and regulations regulating the process. This also has the effect of
influencing the acceptance of voters and candidates of the effect of their participation in
the process.
Building on the above, the legislature took great care to draw among the roles of the
security organization, the role of monitoring election campaigns and propaganda, in
addition to protecting and securing the external environment of election committees for
candidates and administrative staff as well. In cases where police officers have to enter
into election committee, the law obliges them to immediately leave the committee after
carrying out their tasks.
83.4% of the researched sample indicated the intense security presence inside election
committees, where 100 % in Aswan,97.5% in Port Said, 96.5% in Suez,95.9% in
Menya,95.2 % in Kafr El-Sheikh and 93.2% in Cairo . These are governorates
characterized by the intense competition between opposition and NDP candidates.
16.6% indicated the absence of the security presence inside election committees, where
33.8% from Sharkiyah, 28.3% from Assiout, 27.9% from Gharbiyah and 25.3% from
Behairah. It is worth mentioning that such reported absence is rather misleading, as in
cases of relative calmness, security forces mingle among the masses and it becomes
difficult for the ordinary voter to identify them.
The problem does not lie in the presence of security forces around election committees,
however, the problem lies in not performing their tasks as good as they are supposed to.
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The crisis usually begins when security forces interfere because they are biased towards
one side against the other.87 % of the researched sample indicated the absence of any
problems facing them when they went to caste their vote, while 13% indicated that theyfaced problems with security forces when they went to caste their votes. It is safe to
ague that security interference did not turn into a phenomenon.
It is also worth mentioning that the interference of security does not usually take place
on the election day, but prior to that day, where security forces filters the process either
through being rigid with candidates while presenting their papers or through arresting
some candidates. These actions made political parties more reserved to participate and
several political parties threatened to withdraw their candidates from the election if
security forces continue to hinder their participation such as the case of the Wafdcandidates in Mounfiyah. However, such cases are still limited and can not be
considered as a general phenomenon.
Seventhly: The phenomenon of group transportation of voters represents one of the
most important tools that guarantees having the votes of those transported by the
candidate to committees. The weak participation rates contributed to the appearance of
this phenomenon, which did not exceed 30 % at best out of the total number of
registered Egyptian voters. Thus, the candidate who is able to gather and transport a
large number of voters has a better chance of winning, let alone, if those gathered voters
fall under his control such as being members of his clan or residents of his home town.
It is safe to argue that the municipal elections witnessed a decrease of this phenomenon,
despite its continuation; however, it was not that flagrant as it was the case in the
Parliamentary elections. 57.7 % of the researched sample indicated the absence of group
transportation of voters, where 98.9% in Kafr El-Sheikh, 96.6 % in Port Said, and 96.6
% in Suez. As for those who indicated the presence of group transportation were 23.7%
concentrated as 55.8% in Sohag,53.5% in Qena,32.7% in Beheria,32.1 % in
Monufiya,31.6% in Damietta and 37.6% in Gharbiyah, while 18.6 % did not take notice
of the occurrence of the phenomenon.
The above shows that the phenomenon did not transform into a dimension of
competition between candidates to win more votes. There is another explanation for the
decrease of the phenomenon, which is the geographical nature of municipal electoral
districts. Municipal electoral districts are divided into smaller, which do not require a
means of transportation to reach. In addition to the fact that most supporters of a
candidate in municipal elections are members either of his clan or his hometown, i.e.the
candidate enjoys very strong relationships with his supporters and thus does not need a
group transportation to secure their vote.
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Eighthly:Polling centers are considered an integral part of the electoral process, where
only administrative staff must be present inside those centers to supervise and administer
the process of casting votes. It is worth nothing that the law prohibits citizens from beingpresent inside polling centers after casting their votes. The law also prohibits candidates
and their supporters from any campaigns or propaganda inside polling centers aiming at
influencing or convincing voters. In this regard, the law grants the head of the election
committee the authority of a judicial officer and obliging police officers of securing the
committee in order to guarantee the transparency and accountability of the electoral
process.
More than half the researched sample, 51 % indicated the absence of election
propaganda inside polling centers especially, 100% in Aswan, 99.5% in Kafr El-Sheikh,99% in Suez, 98.9% in Port Said, while 39.1% indicated the presence of propaganda
inside electoral committees, without the interference of policemen, despite their
knowledge, especially in governorates such as Damietta 91.9%,Bani Suief 80.9%,
Sharkiyah 69.4% and Assiout 16.6%, while 9.9% abstained from giving any data in this
regard.
If we attempted to identify the political identity of the violating propaganda, we find out
that it comes from almost all political trends, whether NDP 33.5% or Opposition parties
24% or independent candidates 13.5% or other candidates 29%.
Ninthly: Several political parties and members of the political elite have been
demanding over the past decades the necessity of reviewing the procedures and steps of
the voting process in order to reach the sufficient accuracy and transparency and to
eliminate the subsequent violations in each elections, bearing in mind that many of these
violations are cited in the various court cases filed in front of Egyptian courts.
The administrative competent entity began -since the Peoples Assembly elections of
2000- to respond to the above demands and started implementing various steps such as
the existence of a curtain behind which the voter castes his/her vote, the use of atransparent box for collecting votes, the use of phosphoric ink to guarantee that each
voter castes his/her vote once and only once and hanging electoral schedules so that
voters can know their numbers before casting their votes.
Voters from the researched sample indicated, upon the implementation of the above
steps- that procedures followed are quiet safe and smooth in the different dimensions of
the electoral process except for some minor cases. On the other hand, there are various
indications on the low rate of participation, 28.4% indicated that they found the polling
center empty, 39.3% indicated that less than 5 voters were present, 23.8% indicated that
less than 10 voters were present while 8.5% indicated that not more than 15 voters were
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present. These indicators show the weak keenness of voters to participate, where voting
rates ranged between 4%-10% out of the total number of registered voters.
Researched voters also indicated the duration of casting the vote, 53.6% indicated that
the voting process took half an hour, 10.1%indicated that the voting process took an
hour, 5.9% indicated that the voting process took more than an hour and 30.5%
indicated that they are unable of defining the duration of the voting process. These
voting durations are considered ideal, bearing in mind the nature of the Egyptian
personality, which considers the voting event as a socialization event as well.
As for electoral lists and name search, 85.3% indicated that they did not find any
difficulty in finding their names and reaching the right voting places, especially inAswan 99%, Suez 98.5%, Port Said 98.5%, Kafr El-Sheikh 97.9% and Cairo
96.6%.14.6% of the researched sample indicated that they found difficulties in finding
their names and reaching the right voting places especially in Gharbiyah 28.6%,
Damietta 28%, Monofiyah 23.8% and Behaira 23.6%.
The above results seem a bit strange in the light of the various complaints of errors in
registered names, repeated names, group registration and the fact that electoral lists are
not yet edited to exclude names of deceased or those banned from practicing their
political rights. There were suggestions to have registration through the national ID,
which is a unique number for each voter instead of the existing system, which facilitates
such errors. The above results can be due to the fact that researched sample was not
representative of those who are still in the process of casting their votes or those who
have not at all.
As for the presence of candidates representatives inside polling centers, 73.8%
indicated their presence especially in governorates of Aswan 99.5% and Kafr El-Sheikh
98.9%, while 14.2% indicated their absence especially in Menya, where 55.5% indicated
that they have not seen any representatives of candidates inside polling centers.
Regarding the attitude of representatives of candidates, which might have a negative
impact on the voter, 69.8% of the researched sample indicated that representatives
committed violations, while 30.2% indicated that such representatives in polling centers
influenced them. Representatives belonged to various political trends such as 40.3%
belonged to the NDP, 23.2% belonged to opposition parties, 13% represented
independent candidates. This reveals that the process of influencing voters did not
follow a systematic trend and the higher percentage of representatives of NDP
candidates is due to the fact that they are the larger in terms of numbers.
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As for the existence of phosphoric ink inside polling centers in sufficient amounts
following reports that it is insufficient or rare, 88.9% indicated its availability, while
8.7% indicated its absence in polling centers. Thus, when questioning voters whetherstaff at polling centers insisted that voters use phosphoric ink, 85.6% indicated that they
did while 14.4% indicated that they did not.
As for the secrecy of the voting process behind a curtain where the voter castes his/her
vote, most of the researched sample indicated adherence to this procedure, 86.8%
indicated the presence of a curtain in polling centers, while 13.2% indicated the absence
of a curtain and their inability to vote behind it. It is worth noting that the issue of the
secrecy of the vote has to be tackled in the light of prevalent cultural and social norms,
for instance, in the countryside, voting behind a curtain is considered as being scared ofother candidates and their supporters.
As for the issue of the presence of certain individuals besides voters while casting their
votes, 64% of the researched sample indicated that it happens, while 36 % indicated that
it does not happen. This can happen either because the voter does not know how to caste
his/her vote and thus requires someone to assist him/her or because the voter is under the
influence of the supporters of a particular candidate and thus, the candidates supporter
want to secure the vote for that particular candidate.
Lastly, 88.5% of the researched sample indicated that they have placed voting cards
inside the glass voting boxes, especially in Port Said 98.9%,Suez 96.2% and Bani Sueif
95.2%, while 11.5% indicated that when they did not place voting cards inside glass
voting boxes especially in Aswan 22.5% and Sohag 24.8% for reasons such as the
insufficiency of voting boxes or lack of awareness on behalf of voters.
To sum up, we can maintain that the procedures for regulating the electoral process in
municipal elections did not witness any intentional violations, only due to lack of
awareness or insufficiency of regulations tools used. There is also another explanation
which is worth citing and that is the fact that the results of the municipal elections weredetermined beforehand and that required interference to change any of the results were
done through the accumulated experience of security entities without having to agitate
voters or the media.
Tenthly: The municipal electoral system is considered to be the most complicated
among the other forms of political participation regulated by the Egyptian law. The voter
in various elections has to choose one candidate as it is the case in presidential elections
or two candidates as it is the case in parliamentary elections, with at least one worker or
peasant among both. Thus, it is very easy for voters to recognize candidates, compared
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to municipal elections, where the number of candidates is much larger and it becomes
difficult for voters to distinguish between them.
Voters in municipal elections have to choose between 10- 14 candidates for themunicipal council of the governorate, then 10-14 candidates for the municipal council of
the town then 14-24 candidates for the municipal council of the city then 12-18
candidates for the municipal council of the suburb and then 24 candidates for the
municipal council of the village, which is a large number of candidates and it becomes
very difficult for voters to choose the best candidates.
When questioning members of the researched sample if they can distinguish between
municipal candidates, 57.4% indicated that they previously know some candidates,
28.1% indicated that they only know some candidates and not all of them, while 14.5%indicated that they previously know all candidates.
The issue of the voters knowledge of candidates opens the door for discussing several
problems of political and social reform in Egypt. Political practices are supposed to
allow for a distinction between candidates and their ideas. The ability to distinguish
candidates is one of the objective criteria of the voting process. This criterion is very
difficult to achieve in the light of the existing voting system, which leads at the end to
the absence of a methodology and the ability to make the best choice among competing
candidates.
When questioning candidates about the reasons of choosing a certain candidate, 35.1%
indicated that they previously know the candidate, 8.7% chose the candidate based on
previous achievements, 25.4% chose candidates because they were nominated by the
NDP and 3.3% chose candidates because of their finical support to voters.
It is very obvious from the above the process of political participation is passing through
a crisis in the light of the absence of political awareness and an identified goal. Voters
who give their votes to candidates not knowing why they did so or to what degree does
this candidate represent their interests and needs is considered a step back in the processof political reform. To the majority of Egyptian voters, elections are the chance to
realize the gains and services, not secured by the government and thus their affiliation to
parties or their candidates becomes an alternative to their citizenship.
Eleventh:It is safe to argue that there can be neither elections nor candidates without
voters who are able to side with one candidate against the other and prefer one candidate
to the rest. There is no doubt that the problem of political participation is one of the
problems creating a crisis for the process of political reform and democratic
development. It became obvious that the poor and marginalized became the category
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having the upper hand in participation in order to secure their basic needs in return for
their votes and thus created attitudes which are in themselves a violation of the rules of
political participation, as opposed to the upper and middle class which has the upper hadin elections prior to banning political pluralism in 1953.
As for the rates of participation, it is still very low, where the total participation rate in
the three rounds of elections (presidential 2005-Peoples Assembly 2008-Shura Council
2007) did not exceed 27 % according to official statistics. Municipal elections were no
exception where participation rates did not exceed 25 % at best.
The results of the study show that those who have participated in the elections more than
once is 44.2%, while 29 % indicated that they participated for the first time. The state offear, which dominated the society following the 6th of April events, contributed to the
low participation rate. The fact remains that the political platform requires a review in
order to be able to reach the new generation, which grew up in the presence of different
means of communication and has access to more data.
In addition to the fact that there is a necessity for supporting the participation of young
generations to encourage them to go through the competition process. We also need to
find out ways of achieving a positive distinction in order to guarantee the appearance of
young calibers, which may motivate other youth to participate in the political scene.
Twelfth: Candidates platforms can be considered as the real test to judge their
capabilities so as to their knowledge of the problems of their electoral district and their
proposal of solutions to these problems. This is also supposed to a means of preference
for voters to decide on their choice of one candidate or the other. The failure of voters to
do so is considered as a problem of awareness, which has to be solved.
The results of the study at hand reveal the inability of voters to decide whether
candidates have viable platforms that are representative of the problems of their electoral
district or not since 36.9% of the researched sample indicated that candidates had anelectoral platform, while 38.8% indicated the absence of these platforms and 24.2%
abstained from answering.
There is no doubt that the crisis does not lie in voters who failed to identify electoral
platforms of their candidates, but the crisis lies in the first place in the political forces
participating in the elections and which thought that it is sufficient to hold conferences
and distribute flyers and brochures. Political parties underestimated the importance of
issuing a central electoral platform for each party candidate, expressing the vision of the
party and the role of municipal councils in the partys point of view. Only two political
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parties did so and they were the NDP and Tagamu in addition to the Muslim
Brotherhood prior to its withdrawal from municipal elections.
Thirteenth: The ministerial decree No.359/2008 regulated the process of electoralpropaganda and defined a ceiling for election spending to be EGP 20 000 for each
candidate. When questioning voters about their participation in the propaganda of
candidates, 61.1% of the researched sample indicated that they have participated in some
propaganda such as a seminar or a roundtable, while 38.9% indicated that they did not
participate in any sort of propaganda.
As for the sufficiency of propaganda, 31.9% of the researched sample indicated that
propaganda was sufficient, 35.6% indicated that it was close to sufficient and 14.5%
indicated that it was insufficient. This can be explained by the variation in propagandastrategy in municipal elections. Also, the high satisfaction degree among voters should
not be misleading as the researched sample is representative only of voters who have
voted already.
As for financial spending on propaganda, 34.1% indicated that spending was huge
especially in Port Said 61.8%, Kafr El-Sheikh 60.3% and Suez 60%, 21.5% indicated
that spending was normal especially in Qalubiyah 61.8%, Monfiyah 24.3% and Behairah
34.1% and 44.5% abstained from answering this question.
We have to bear in mind the difficulty of tracking and evaluating the financial spending
parameter, given the fact that the law did not mention the status of donations given to
voters internally and did not define a ceiling for its spending.
Fourteenth: Ignorance of the role of elected councils and the right of its members
represents one of the most important obstacles for the political reform process since the
lack of awareness among voters of the difference between the role of the member of
parliament and member of municipal councils, which lead to parliament losing many of
its important members. This brings up the issue of the importance of raising the
awareness of citizens regarding the roles of elected councils. The survey carried out bythe Centre for Information and Decision Making Support affiliated with the Cabinet of
Ministers that 48% of their sample (composed of 1000 Egyptian families) are aware of
the roles of elected councils, 24% of those aware participated in the elections, 66% are
only aware of some roles and 47% expressed that elected councils are not doing a good
job.
Results of the previous survey match the results of the study at hand since 79% of the
researched sample indicated that they are aware of the roles of municipal councils
especially in Port Said 100 %, Kafr El Sheikh 100 %, Suez 99%, Damietta 93%, while
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21% indicated that they do not have a clear idea of the role of municipal councils as it is
the case in Menya 64.2%. Alexandria 43.6% and Giza 35.6%.
As for the sources through which voters became aware of the roles of municipalcouncils, media came in the first place 39.9%, then election propaganda 32.1% then Law
on local governance 15.1% then discussion with local officials 11.8% then 1.1% for
other sources.
The fact remains that such knowledge and awareness is instant and is related to the
intensive focus of the media during the election, thus reflecting the absence of an
awareness methodology and a clear plan for achieving community awareness.
Fifteenth: The results of the researched sample showed a positive bias towards theparticipation of women, which means that the Egyptian society is becoming more
acceptable of choosing women as a representative element in elected councils.66.4% of
the researched sample indicated that they are ready to vote for women in municipal
elections, 18.6% indicated that voting for women depends on their ability to propose
new solutions to existing problems and 15 % indicated that it is impossible for them to
vote for women.
The final results of the municipal election came out to match the same results of the
study at hand as the number of women in elected municipal councils reached 2621
women with an increase rate of 294% where Al Sharkiayh came in the first place with
328 women, Dakliyah with 304 women, Al- Behairah with 268 women, Qaliubiyah with
181 women, North Sinai with 175 women, Al-Monoufiyh with 142 women,Giza with
113 women,Kafr El-Sheikh with 111 women,Cairo with 99 women,Al-Wadi Al Gedid
with 94 women,Gharbiyah with 88 women,Menya with 85 women,Beni Suief with 83
women,Damietta with 74 women,Assiout with 64 women,Ismailiyah with 59
women,Fayoum with 57 women, Aswan with 53 women,Alexanderia with 36 women,
Sohag with 35 women, Matrouh with 32 women, Qena with 29 women, Sinai with 27
women, Luxor with 23 women, Suez with 16 women and Red Sea with 14 women.
The study at hand also showed that the positive bias towards women is restricted to a
certain age group, as there was not any difference between voters from different age
groups, furthermore, support percentages ranged between 57% and 67%.
The fact that the gender variable did not have any impact on the bias towards women
since percentages was equal among those who accepted and those who refused the
participation of women from both genders.
Sixteenth: Results of the study at hand revealed that most of the researched sample
belonged to political parties that are recognized legally, who amounted to 68.7% out of
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the total number of voters in the sample, especially in Port Said 100%, Kafr El-Sheikh
100%, Suez 97.5% and Cairo 91%.While those voters who do not belong to political
parties amounted to 31.3% specially in Alexandria 58.6%,Damietta 52.9%, Qalubiyah49.6% and Qena 46.6%.
These results show the real crisis of political life in Egypt. If political parties continue to
be that weak, they will continue to fail to attract new members and the rate of
participation will not increase due to limited membership.
Reality says that those political parties especially opposition parties have been suffering
from the domination of the elite in party mechanisms and decision making which
created a gap between these parties and the masses. It is worth mentioning that most
political parties have witnessed memberships, which soared very high when pluralismwas restored to Egypt and then members lost interest when it became obvious that
political parties are not effective. Thus, political parties were transformed from attractive
to repulsive entities.
Furthermore, voters not affiliated with any political party explain that the reason is due
to the fact that political parties do not have the least degree of influence in addition to its
repulsiveness to the younger generations. Looking at the real picture, it is safe to argue
that all the above is a repetition of the painful reality suffered by political parties since a
long time.
The municipal elections were a revealing model of the crisis of Egyptian political
parties, which failed except for the NDP to cover all electoral districts, despite the
declaration of opposition parties of the necessity of a peaceful transfer of power in a
transparent and accountable electoral process, for instance, the Wafd offered 507
candidates, the Tagmu offered 236 candidates, the Nasserite party offered 170
candidates and the front offered 16 candidates. In other words, municipal elections
which require 25 000 candidates had less than 1000 opposition candidates leaving 51
000 seats for the NDP and independent candidates. The huge variation in numbers is a
clear evidence on the crisis suffered by Egyptian political parties.
The crisis did not stop at the above point, but went further to reach the internal reality of
political parties, where political alliance turned against one another immediately after
the elections like what happened with the Nasserite coalition when the Nasserite party
exchanged accusations of striking deals with the NDP to win seats in the elections.
As for the Wafd party, various conflicts erupted regarding its membership of the
municipal council of Fayoum, where various accusations were exchanged of adopting
the thought of the Muslim Brotherhood and making the way for them under the banner
of Wafd party.
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Needless to say that subsequent crises of Egyptian political parties is the major obstacle
facing any reform or development in the light of the repulsiveness of citizens towards
political participation. Thus, necessity implies developing political parties in order toserve as an attractive element for citizens presenting qualified candidates and calibers
capable of political competition.
Seventeenth: The municipal elections inspite of its limited electoral districts,
represented a good model of participation aspired by the Egyptian citizen, in the light of
decreased violations and interferences. 75.1 % of the researched sample indicated that
they desire that the voting process to be repeated in the future especially in Port Said
99.6%, Kafr El- Sheikh 99.5%, Aswan 99% and Suez 99%. 6.2% indicated their refusal
to repeat the voting process again.
As for the gender dimension, 75.6% of males and 73.8% of females indicated their
keenness on repeating the voting experience, while 6.4% of males and 5.7% of females
indicated their refusal of repeating the voting experience in the future. This can be taken
as a good indicator on the development of the voter's trust in the influence of
participation.
Concluding Recommendations: An Invitation to Think with the VoterThe use of the method of knowing the opinion of the voter in the electoral process
represents a different path and initiative in evaluating and monitoring elections, and
since the study is based on using this method usually does not end with
recommendations, but usually ends with ideas for future implementation, as recording
recommendations shall not benefit governmental or non-governmental entities. Also,
since the study at hand is based on a survey, an outlining of a work plan in the future
becomes very important, in order to deepen the participation of citizens in public affairs
and develop the political life on the basis of voters preferences. From this point
onwards, thinking with the voter gets to have a special importance, notwithstanding, the
fact that the experience is still very recent, but regarding its long-term effects, which
influence the reality of political development.
It is possible to propose a number of ideas suitable for a future work plan, in the light of
the results of the study at hand as follows:
1. Raising the awareness of voters of the importance of the electoral platform in the
field of elections in general and municipal ones in particular. This represents a
field for future work as it is possible to train voters, raise their organizational and
knowledge abilities in order to enable them to better understand the electoral
system in a political context, without having to surrender to tribal or family ties.
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2.
Raising the awareness of voters of the municipal system such as its structure,
dimensions, roles and importance. This shall help in increasing the rate of
participation in municipal elections. It is very important to train voters on how tounderstand and analyze electoral programs and participate in discussion forums
on elections as all this shall help in building a better political awareness, which
enables voters of choosing the best candidates and face negative aspects of the
elections such as buying votes or bribery....etc.
3. Raising the awareness of voters of certain qualitative issues and matter of public
concern in municipal elections such the issue of the participation of women, youth
problems. There is no doubt that interest in such matters enriches the awareness of
voters and clarifies their preferences.
4.
Raising the awareness of voters of the importance of having a civil state and thenecessity of eliminating religious slogans and symbols from the electoral process
such as the Muslim Brothers slogan of Islam is the solution. It is worth
mentioning that some NDP candidates used certain Quaranic verses and sayings
of the Prophet in their banners and propaganda, which is also considered an
obvious violation of the law.
5.
Working on developing electoral committees, which a direct requires the
knowledge of voters preferences. Future surveys in future elections must include
questions about electoral committees and means of developing them.
6.
Knowledge of voters electoral preferences, which is rather a controversial issue
as it is directly related to the partys view or the voters political views. However,
this represents an important issue for political trends and can be an important part
of political programs and electoral platforms. It is worth noting that the political
opinions of voters are an integral part of developing democratic life and political
parties. The ability of political parties to influence the preferences of voters in an
indicator on their political capability and their degree of closeness to the masses.
Thus, problems of voters and their major concerns must be the main basis for
electoral programs and platforms.
7. The study at hand revealed the importance of electoral propaganda, thus a future
work plan can be focused on the content of electoral propaganda, the degree of itsattractiveness to voters, the criteria for the quality of propaganda, its regulations
and laws and means of developing existing methods of electoral propaganda as it
is one of the means of raising the awareness of voters.
8. The media as it has been revealed by the study at hand is the main source of
knowledge for voters, thus a future work plan can to intensify programs on
electoral awareness clarifying the roles of municipal and parliamentary councils
especially during the season of the elections and that can be regarded as a seasonal
role for the media. The future work plan may also include criteria for evaluating
the performance of the media during times of elections.
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9.
We can not talk about political reform without developing political parties and the
roles they play among the masses. The study at hand revealed that the majority of
political parties are suffering from a gap existing with the masses, stagnation, adecrease in their membership and the domination of seniors on leadership
positions leaving no room for the younger generation. Thus, a future work plan
can be the means of building new calibers among the younger generation
qualified of removing the stagnation currently prevailing in political parties, and
raising the awareness of the younger generation of controversial issues in order to
enable them to contribute with new solutions.
10.
The study at hand revealed the emergence of a new societal and knowledge
variable that has to do with the participation of women in political life and the
possibility of voting for women in elections. It is worth noting that theconstitutional amendment, which called for ending the discrimination against
women, is not enough, however, it is important to include in future work plans
training for calibers of women in order to qualify them for an effective political
participation and raising their awareness of important issues of public concern.
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First
Media Reports
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Maat Center Held a Training Course for Trainers.In the framework of Voter's Vote Project implemented by Maat Center for Judicial and
Constitutional Studies and supported by (MEPI), the center ended the training course that
was held to train (21 trainers) who are chosen to participate in preparing observation
squads, which are prepared for the local elections in 8\4\2008.
Voter's Vote Project aimed at watching election committees in ninety-four election districts
distributed in 21 governorates through 940 civil observers and 94 coordinators.
Maat Center for Judicial and Constitutional Studies implements this observation project in
the framework of a philosophy adopted by the center to activate new forms of observation
in order to enhance voter's situation. Thus, the center estimates the election process, anddefines ways to develop it and to activate voter's participation in it by watching events and
violations through voter's eyes and voice. The voter's voice which is trying to read
objectively the real status in local elections and which support developing it and activating
forms of its decentralize during the coming period. This comes because of the center's view
to spread culture of participating, activate elections awareness, achieve fair representation
for social marginal sectors, and assert value of the culture of variety and accepting the
other.
Participants in the training course asserted the importance of observing local elections in
Egypt, as observation represents public guarantee to assert election process's integrity or toexpose its violations and trespasses. They also asserted its importance as in this round it is
so close to lately constitutional amendments, which asserted the role of local councils'
member in recommending and nominating president of the state, and in the framework of
supporting the decentralized state especially as it is expected to pass new draft for local
administration.
The course was ended after exhaustive discussion about the model of (voter's vote form)
that will be applied in the Election Day to insure the form's ability to express the voter
objectively and effectively.
22/3/2008 Cairo
Media report (2)
Maat Center starts
(The Voters' Voice Project) observers' training
Maat Center for Juridical and Constitutional Studies started today the 1stof April 2008 the
second training program for preparing and rehabilitee of observers of (the Voter's Voice
Project). The project aims at measuring the commitment of the executive authority in
implementing the electoral procedures and activities (in local council elections 2008)
according to the international regulations and standards of honesty and transparency inside
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a sample of 94 constituencies distributed over 21egyptian governorate by conducting 41
training program.
The 4/day training programs that will end on Friday the 4thof April 2008 will benefit 940field observers and 94 constituency coordinators, which is total teamwork Maat depends on
in achieving his targeted observation which symbolizes an unprecedented experience in
measuring the naturalness and the honesty of the electoral process.
The training program focuses on providing the voter with the required information to
realize the difference between the observation and the supervision and the difference
between the local and international observation of the election in addition to clarifying thelegal basics of and the purposes behind the observation process stressing on the basic rules
in the election observation and the important actions that should be done during the voting
process.
The training will explain samples of the application a form prepared to record the voters'
impressions towards the electoral process, the forms of violations and oversteps that may
happen, and determine the responsible for it, in addition to exploring practical cases to
show the ways emergency situation that may face them while reaching the voters should be
handled within the framework of the supporting the citizens' participation in public life.
The Voters' Voice Project is implemented by Maat Center for Juridical and Constitutional
Studies in cooperation with One World Foundation for Development and Civil Society Care
And Mansora based Human Devel