News Coverage Prepared For: the European Union Delegation to Egypt
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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.” 1 . Thematic Headlines Domestic Scene National Council for Women and New Constitution Calm Returns to Salloum after a Reconciliation Meeting Wide Controversy over Political Isolation Law Khaled Ali Demands Political Forces to Unite against Fraud Abu Ismail: Presidential Elections Commission Cannot Exclude Me Presidential Elections Updates 2 Killed and 14 Injured in a Huge Fire in Petroleum Company in Suez MB and Al-Nour Discuss Constituent Assembly Crisis General Intelligence: We are Neutral toward all Presidential Candidates 2 Newspapers (15/04/2012) Page: 6. Author: Mostafa Sha’ban. National Council for Women and New Constitution Speaker of the People’s Assembly Dr. Saad Al-Katatni received an official letter from Ambassador Mervat Al-Telawi, head of Egypt’s National Council for Women. In the letter, Al-Telawi demanded, on behalf of the Women’s Council, that the new constitution considers the role of women in the Egyptian society. Al-Telawi also requested adding articles in the new constitution that guarantees positive discrimination for women. She also called on lawmakers to issue a legislation that prevents discrimination against women or violation of their rights. The council also demanded allocating a special quota for women’s representation in parliament, in addition to maintaining articles of the 1971 Constitution which provided for social solidarity, equal citizenship rights and protecting the rights of mothers by law. Al-Telawi pointed out that the government must adopt economic policies that improve the status of women and raise their living standards because according to recent statistics women are among the poorest classes in Egypt and illiteracy spreads among women more than men. 3 Page: 3. Author: Ali Al-Shouki. Calm Returns to Salloum after a Reconciliation Meeting Calm returned to the city of Salloum in Marsa Matrouh governorate following a reconciliation meeting between the Armed Forces and residents. Violent clashes broke out few days ago between army forces and some of the residents, resulting in the death of three and injury of at least 4 civilians. Representative of the Western Military Region expressed his regret over the incident and agreed to re-deploy security forces to protect the border city. 4 Page: 4. Authors: Ra’fat Hassouna and Ola Abd Al-Hadi. Wide Controversy over Political Isolation Law Legal experts confirmed that the Political Isolation Law enacted by the parliament must first gain the approval of the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces, according to the provisions of the Constitutional Declaration. The law cannot be referred to the Supreme Constitutional Court before gaining SCAF’s approval. Dr. Salah Al-Tahawi, professor of international law, said that SCAF, as the current executive authority, must approve the law before it can be put into effect. He also explained that law should be an abstract, general set of rules. If law was intended for a specific group or a specific person, then it could be considered unconstitutional. “Preventing figures of the former Mubarak regime from running for presidency is the people’s demand after so many years of corruption; however, this can only be done without violating the provisions of the Constitutional Declaration,” Al-Tahawi said. 5 Page: 4. Author: Moataz Al-Hadidi. Khaled Ali Demands Political Forces to Unite against Fraud Khaled Ali, potential presidential candidate, confirmed that the revolution is going through a critical phase. He said the crisis of the Constituent Assembly has raised concerns among many political forces because of the domination of religious political parties over the process of drafting the new constitution. Following Omar Suleiman’s announcement to run for presidency, the possibilities of rigging the upcoming elections are increasing, said Ali. He called on all political forces and movements to unite to protest against Suleiman’s presidential bids and to stand against any form of corruption in the upcoming presidential elections. 6 Page: 1. Author: Mohamed Abd Al-Maqsoud. Abu Ismail: Presidential Elections Commission Cannot Exclude Me Sheikh Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, potential presidential candidate, said that the Presidential Elections Commission cannot disqualify him from the presidential race because the period determined by the law for excluding candidates has already ended on Friday. Abu Ismail said the official US documents, which prove his mother had obtained an American citizenship, are forged as they do not carry any official stamp or signatures. He stressed that the Administrative Court issued a clear decision obliging the Ministry of Interior to issue a document that states his mother carried only the Egyptian nationality. Meanwhile, Abd Al-Moneim Abd Al-Maqsoud, the Muslim Brotherhood’s lawyer, said the commission did not notify Khairat Al-Shater yet with its decision, which means that he is not yet excluded from the presidential race. 7 Page: 1 Authors: Mohamed Hamzawi, Hossam Khater (and others). Presidential Elections Updates Ten potential presidential candidates were officially disqualified by the Presidential Elections Commission for various reasons; the most standing names among them were Omar Suleiman, former vice president, Khairat Al-Shater, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, and Ayman Nour. The commission said in its statement issued yesterday that it completed examining and reviewing all the candidacy papers and took the decision to exclude 10 candidates who did not meet the requirements set by the law. According to the commission’s statement, Major General Omar Suleiman was disqualified for failing to achieve the required geographical distribution of his signed forms of endorsement. In addition to that, there were citizens who gave him forms of endorsement after giving them to other candidates earlier, which totally invalidated these forms. As for Khairat Al-Shater, the Presidential Elections Commission disqualified him because the amnesty granted to him by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tanatawi, Head of the ruling SCAF, does not yet allow him to practice his political rights. Ayman Nour was disqualified for the same reason. Hazem Salah Abu Ismail was disqualified because the commission was able to prove that his deceased mother acquired an American citizenship before she died. According to the law, both parents of the presidential candidate should carry only the Egyptian citizenship. “We will never accept this manipulation,” said Gamal Saber, coordinator of Hazem Abu Ismail’s campaign, as he expressed his rejection of the commission’s decision to eliminate Abu Ismail. He said that supporters of the presidential hopeful are completely furious of this decision. Similar news was reported in: Al-Ahram: Pages 1, 4, 5; Youm 7: Pages 1, 5, 8. 8 Page: 1. Author: Sayed Noun. 2 Killed and 14 Injured in a Huge Fire in Petroleum Company in Suez Suez witnessed a catastrophe yesterday as a huge fire broke out in Al-Nasr Petroleum Co. leaving 2 workers dead and around 14 others wounded. Emergency crews put out fires at three out of the four tanks. Experts confirmed that the fire will cause a serious shortage of diesel fuel supplies as the company lost nearly 5 tons of fuel and because producing refined fuel will stop until the blaze is contained. Similar news was reported in: Youm 7: Page 1; Al-Akhbar: Page 20; Al-Masry Al-Youm: Page 3. 9 Page: 1. Authors: Ihsan Al-Sayed, Hend Adel (and others). MB and Al-Nour Discuss Constituent Assembly Crisis MP Dr. Wahid Abd Al-Megid, coordinator of the committee mediating the crisis of the Constituent Assembly, said that the Muslim Brotherhood contacted Al-Nour Salafi Party to discuss the reformation of the assembly and decrease the percentage of MPs represented in the constitution-drafting panel. Abd Al-Megid told Youm 7 that the mediation committee also requested from other political parties and forces to present their proposals on the formation of the Constituent Assembly. He said there will be a meeting that comprises all these political forces to discuss all the proposals presented in an attempt to come out with a solution for this crisis. The joint meeting will also discuss the list of names of public figures who will be selected for the Constituent Assembly. MP Dr. Amr Hamzawi said the parliament’s majority bloc, namely the Freedom and Justice Party and Al-Nour Salafi Party, should apologize for creating this crisis of the Constituent Assembly and should respect the decision of the Administrative Court. 10 Page: 3. Author: Not mentioned. General Intelligence: We are Neutral toward all Presidential Candidates Member of Parliament Mahmoud Ashmawi requested a hearing over the role of the General Intelligence Service in the upcoming presidential elections. He wanted to identify whether or not they practiced pressure on citizens and army soldiers to give forms of endorsement for former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. The People’s Assembly will determine on its coming session on Tuesday a schedule for 115 hearings for the Prime Minister and some of the ministers. The General Intelligence Service stated that its main task is to preserve the security and stability of the country and protect its sovereignty. They also reaffirmed their adherence to Article 47 of the General Intelligence Code which bans members of the apparatus from joining any political organization or participating in electoral campaigns. The Intelligence Service confirmed its neutrality toward all potential presidential candidates and its commitment to achieving the best interest of the country during this critical juncture. Similar news was reported in: Al-Masry Al-Youm: Page 1. 11 TV Coverage (14/04/2012) Al-Hayah Channel: Al-Hayah Al-Youm Host: Lobna Assal.