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| Two only Egyptian presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabahi (L) and Abd El-Fatah El-Sisi (R) |
Here some useful links explaining the Egyptian presidential elections taking place at the moment, in addition to the latest updates.
Second day elections round-up:
So Egypt's Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) decided to extend the voting for a third day due to low turn out! No holiday is declared.
(The Telegraph called it "Egypt elections extended as Sisi's backers embarrassed by low turn-out")
Both Sabahi's and El-Sisi's campaigns have filed complaints against the decision.
However, PEC has rejected these legal complaints. PEC's secretary Abd El-Aziz Salman told CBC TV channel: "We do not abide by the desires of the candidates. We are following the popular wishes... two representative of a popular delegation came to the committee's headquarters to request more opportunities to vote."
Meanwhile, there are calls on social media asking Sabahi to withdraw from the race, saying the elections are a farce.
As participation levels were unexpectedly low, there have been efforts from the Egyptian government & media to urge people to vote. Aswat Masriya has more to say indeed in this feature titled "Vote or else, Egyptian media warns public".
Egypt's PM Ibrahim Mahlab also announced a fine of EGP 500 for those who do not vote. (Same news about a fine were announced in previous elections).
Anyway, here are some other news on the second elections day in Egypt...
Journalists on the street:
- BBC crew briefly detained when interviewing Rabaa widow (DNE)
- Journalists detained, barred from polling stations: Syndicate (Ahram Online)
Monitoring the elections:
- Ahram Online interviews chief observer of the European Union's Election Observation Mission (EOM) in Egypt.
How did the second day unfold?
- Ahram Online's live updates
- At least 30 arrests during presidential elections (DNE)
Egypt-specials:
- Reports on social media saying that shopping complex City Stars in northern Cairo shut down early to "call on people to vote". This video from local news publication El-Badil features an announcement broadcast in City Stars, telling customers it will close at 4 p.m. CLT in order to help staff vote.
Commentary:
- Robert Fisk writes in The Independent: "Egypt elections: The coronation of the emperor".
Earlier today:
(The Telegraph called it "Egypt elections extended as Sisi's backers embarrassed by low turn-out")
Both Sabahi's and El-Sisi's campaigns have filed complaints against the decision.
However, PEC has rejected these legal complaints. PEC's secretary Abd El-Aziz Salman told CBC TV channel: "We do not abide by the desires of the candidates. We are following the popular wishes... two representative of a popular delegation came to the committee's headquarters to request more opportunities to vote."
Meanwhile, there are calls on social media asking Sabahi to withdraw from the race, saying the elections are a farce.
* * *
As participation levels were unexpectedly low, there have been efforts from the Egyptian government & media to urge people to vote. Aswat Masriya has more to say indeed in this feature titled "Vote or else, Egyptian media warns public".
Egypt's PM Ibrahim Mahlab also announced a fine of EGP 500 for those who do not vote. (Same news about a fine were announced in previous elections).
Anyway, here are some other news on the second elections day in Egypt...
Journalists on the street:
- BBC crew briefly detained when interviewing Rabaa widow (DNE)
- Journalists detained, barred from polling stations: Syndicate (Ahram Online)
Monitoring the elections:
- Ahram Online interviews chief observer of the European Union's Election Observation Mission (EOM) in Egypt.
How did the second day unfold?
- Ahram Online's live updates
- At least 30 arrests during presidential elections (DNE)
Egypt-specials:
- Reports on social media saying that shopping complex City Stars in northern Cairo shut down early to "call on people to vote". This video from local news publication El-Badil features an announcement broadcast in City Stars, telling customers it will close at 4 p.m. CLT in order to help staff vote.
Commentary:
- Robert Fisk writes in The Independent: "Egypt elections: The coronation of the emperor".
Earlier today:
The government has declared Tuesday an official holiday in the public sector to facilitate the polling process & extended the voting for an extra hour.
Here are also some links for what has been happening in the early morning:
- Dostour (Constitution) Party Facebook pages launches an event called "Tuesday is for Hamdeen" to urge voters to cast their votes for the only candidate against El-Sisi Today.
Trending hashtags:
انسحب_يا_حمدين# (Withdraw, Hamdeen)
كملوا_المسرحية# (Continue the show)
الاربع_بتاع_حمدين# (Wednesday is for Hamdeen)
First elections day round-up:
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| Photo by Mai Shaheen for Ahram Online |
- Sisi closes on presidency on final day of Egypt vote (Reuters)
- First day of 2014 presidential vote passes smoothly (Ahram Online)
- Video: Inside Hamdeen Sabahi's HQ on the first day of elections (Ahram Online)
- Muslim Brotherhood Statement on elections day (Ikhwan Web)
- What did the 2012 top five presidential candidates do on Monday? (Aswat Masriya)
- Video: Inside an Egyptian polling station (BBC)
- Video: El-Sisi votes in Heliopolis, Cairo (RT)
Violations:
- PEC excludes four judges for influencing voters (Aswat Masriya)
- Egyptian NGOs report some poll violations (Ahram Online)
Young voters:
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| Photo by Mai Shaheen for Ahram Online |
This year's presidential elections (and January's constitutional referendum) saw a lack of enthusiasm from young voters, who say they feel disappointed at how little change the 2011 uprising has yielded.
This was obvious on 26 May. Indeed, Mada Masr published a great feature on young people's dwindling participation and the reasons behind it.
Photos:
- Egyptian Presidential Elections 2014 in Photos “Day 1” (Egyptian Chronicles)
- In Photos: Election Day Highlights Egypt's Obsession With El-Sisi (Vice news)
- Photo gallery: First day of voting in Egypt's presidential election (Ahram Online)
Dancing everywhere!
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| (Getty images) |
- Video: Lady wearing the niqab (face-veil) dances outside a polling station (Youtube)
Note: The video above was particularly viral because it is culturally unusual, and sometimes unacceptable, for a veiled woman to dance in public. It is also worthy noting that Al-Nour Salafist Party officially supports El-Sisi in the elections.
Note: The video above was particularly viral because it is culturally unusual, and sometimes unacceptable, for a veiled woman to dance in public. It is also worthy noting that Al-Nour Salafist Party officially supports El-Sisi in the elections.
- Egyptian TV presenter Reham Saeed dances at a polling station too, reportedly in Zamalek.
And, surely, they've been dancing on Hussein El-Gasmy's viral song "Boshret Kheir" (Good omen), especially produced by CBC for the elections. Also, here is a nice compilation by Aswat Masriya of songs for Egyptian presidential candidates since 2012.
And, surely, they've been dancing on Hussein El-Gasmy's viral song "Boshret Kheir" (Good omen), especially produced by CBC for the elections. Also, here is a nice compilation by Aswat Masriya of songs for Egyptian presidential candidates since 2012.
Only in Egyptian polls:
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| Old Egyptian polling card with "I love you, Noha" written on it! |
- Egypt election: 'I love you' on ballots to count as vote! (BBC)
- Queueing voters discover
marijuana plants at Egyptian school (Ahram Online)
- Video: Egyptian women take photos with Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim at a polling station. One hugs and kisses him, while another is ululating in the background. (Facebook)
- Video: Egyptian women take photos with Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim at a polling station. One hugs and kisses him, while another is ululating in the background. (Facebook)
Trending on Twitter:
#EgyptVotes
مسرحية_الرياسة# (The presidential show/play)
مش_نازل# (I am not going)
#التلات_بتاع_حمدين (Tuesday is for Hamdeen)
What's next?
Background
- Infographic: Egypt's 2014 Presidential Elections Timeline (Atlantic Council)
- Interactive: Egyptian elections explained (Aljazeera)
- Egypt elections: 5 things to know (CNN)
- El-Sisi & Sabahi: A virtual debate (Ahram Online)
- Who will Egypt's political groups vote for? A guide (Ahram Online)
- Sisi campaign spent EGP 12 million, while Sabahi's spent barely EGP 100K (Aswat Masriya)
How did the expats voting go?
- Sisi routes Sabahi in expatriate voting (DNE)
2 comments:
Thanks for collecting all these sources, very helpful. -Troy
Thank you, Troy. Glad you found it useful
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