background preloader

Egypt - From polls and Sinai crash

Facebook Twitter

News Egypt - The Biggest Egyptian News Portal - Egypt.com - MP Okasha says Egypt's security apparatuses working against country’s wellbeing. Home | Egypt News | MP Okasha says Egypt's security apparatuses working against country’s wellbeing 5 hours 22 minutes ago Font size: Parliamentarian Tawfik Okasha said Saturday that all Egyptian security apparatuses are “working against the wellbeing of the country and working for their narrow ideas.” Okasha, in a phone call with ONTV channel’s Al-Sada Al-Mohtaramon programme, inferred that the current authorities want to activate one-party rule, saying they want to “clone the models of the communist union and the national union.” The issue started when a few dozen independent parliamentarians approached Okasha to form a parliamentary bloc for independents.

The parliamentarians attempted to meet in the House of Representatives headquarters in Downtown Cairo, according to Okasha, to further discuss the bloc, but security manning the gate prevented them from entering. The events prompted Okasha to make press statements that he was pondering quitting the parliament and leaving the country. Sisi to issue three decrees before Egypt's new parliament plunges into business Egypt Elections 2015 Egypt Ahram Online. The graveyard: An inside look into Alaqrab Prison. Picture: Satellite Picture for Alaqrab Prison via Google Maps On Thursday December 10th 2015, one of my friends responsible for human rights situation inside Egypt sent me an alarming message describing the violations occurred in the Egyptian infamous Aqrab (Scorpion) prison. These violations, which were taking place specifically in the H4 section Wing 4 at Tuesday and Wednesday 8th and 9th of December, involved torture ceremonies lasted for two days, resulted in many injuries between the political prisoners, and accounted for bones fractures as well as sexual abuse.

I contacted my private sources to verify what happened, for my surprise these sources confirmed the occurrence of violations in the same day as reported, and provided me a list containing violations linked with names of detainees subjected to this acts, and the names of some officers who supervised such violations. The beginnings of Alaqrab Prison Prison's official name is "Tora Prison 992 Maximum-security". The Meals Mrs. Egypt: Eight Parties Join 'Coalition to Support Egypt' Founded By Ex-Military Intelligence General. CAIRO, Dec. 17 (Aswat Masriya) - Eight parties, including al-Wafd, joined the Coalition to Support Egypt, said ex-military intelligence general and coalition founder Sameh Seif Alyazal in a press conference on Friday. The coalition rebranded itself to "Coalition to Support Egypt" instead of "Coalition to Support the Egyptian State", according to state-run MENA news agency citing Alyazal.

Members of the coalition constitute more than two thirds of parliament, bringing together around 400 representatives, reported Al Ahram earlier in December. Alyazal previously said the coalition will not necessarily support the government but will challenge, question or applaud the government's performance if needed. However, he added "we will stand behind President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to support stability and promote and meet the demands of citizens. " Alyazal founded "For the Love of Egypt" list which swept all 120 seats allocated for the lists system in the upcoming parliament.

Internal conflict in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood waged online. As the Muslim Brotherhood began to legally challenge a British government report about the group's connections with radicalism which was released this week, the group's branch in Egypt seems to be suffering from an internal crisis which was largely conducted via social media. The crisis began on Monday when the Muslim Brotherhood's deputy supreme guide, Mahmoud Ezzat, issued a final decision backed by the Brotherhood's London office to dismiss Mohamed Montasser from his position as official spokesperson of the group in Egypt for defying the group's orders and issuing statements expressing his own views. Ezzat, whose whereabouts are unknown, also issued a decision appointing 55-year-old Talaat Fahmy as the new spokesperson for the banned group.

Fahmy is believed to be outside the country. Montasser was appointed official spokesperson of the Muslim Brotherhood in January 2015. The statement also announced that the investigation would include the practices of the Brotherhood office in London. Egypt’s New Parliament—Posturing Without Politics. Judging from the number of times they have been summoned to the polls in recent years, Egyptians would seem to have an enthusiastically democratic system.

Judging from the comments of most analysts, Egyptians have returned to an authoritarian past in which a parliament exists simply to give a participatory veneer to a profoundly authoritarian presidential system. The results of Egypt's just-concluded parliamentary elections suggests the cynics have the weight of the evidence on their side. True, opposition parties have been banned, manipulated, or marginalised. Those with deep pockets and support from key state actors (such as the security services) will populate much of the body. But the result is not a simple return to the past. There are reasons to believe Egypt's parliamentary life will be a bit more bumpy than the past for three reasons. First, the parliament has some real prerogatives under the country's 2014 constitution. Loyal, if unruly. Political opponents call on Egyptians to topple Sisi regime.

Political opponents call on Egyptians to topple Sisi regime. Viewpoint: Egypt's new parliament - posturing without politics. Image copyright Reuters Judging from the number of times they have been summoned to the polls in recent years, Egyptians would seem to have an enthusiastically democratic system. Judging from the comments of most analysts, Egyptians have returned to an authoritarian past in which a parliament exists simply to give a participatory veneer to a profoundly authoritarian presidential system. The results of Egypt's just-concluded parliamentary elections suggests the cynics have the weight of the evidence on their side. True, opposition parties have been banned, manipulated, or marginalised. Those with deep pockets and support from key state actors (such as the security services) will populate much of the body.

But the result is not a simple return to the past. First, the parliament has some real prerogatives under the country's 2014 constitution. Loyal, if unruly This will make the parliament a headache for the president. Image copyright AFP The parliament, therefore, has been an afterthought. After deaths, Egyptians grow bolder in challenging police abuse. Fathia Hashem was preparing for bed when Egyptian plainclothes police burst into her house, forced her into a van and ordered her to lead them to her son Amr Abushanab's apartment.

Three days later, she watched police escort him to be questioned by prosecutors. Two officers held him up as he struggled to walk, his face pale and his vest stained with blood. He told her he had been beaten and subjected to electric shocks. Within hours he was dead. He was 32. Unlike the families of scores of other Egyptians that rights groups say die in police custody every year, Abushanab's family has gone public, as have those of two other men who died in police custody in the span of a week. The spate of deaths has drawn rare media attention and prompted some street demonstrations, an echo of the public anger over police brutality that helped spark the revolution that brought down President Hosni Mubarak five years ago. Egypt has a long history of police abuse under generations of military rulers. Egypt Parliamentary Poll Expected to Bolster Sissi.

Egypt wrapped up its parliamentary election Wednesday, and results are expected to show a win for supporters of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Some analysts, however, say widespread low turnout, reports of vote buying and other irregularities could later be used as reasons to dissolve the lawmaking body. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi was not running for anything in this election, but he is expected to emerge the winner, with a body of legislators who will support him and the roughly 200 laws he has passed by decree. Despite low turnout, election workers say they are excited because the country has been without a parliament for about three years. “I love my homeland.

I love Egypt. I hope the right candidate will win. Egyptian women search for a name on a voting list at a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 1, 2015. "Buying votes has become like the stock market. The new parliament is expected to start work next month. Free Egyptians claims majority of party seats won in parliamentary elections - Egypt Elections 2015 - Egypt. Ahram Online , Thursday 3 Dec 2015 Free Egyptians party newly elected MPs in Egypt's 2015 parliamentary election (Photo: Courtesy of Free Egyptians official Facebook page) Egyptian political parties started announcing on Thursday the number of total parliamentary seats won after unofficial results started coming out from party representatives and media outlets present during the vote count.

The runoffs of the second phase of the parliamentary elections concluded at 9pm Cairo local time (CLT), signaling an end to Egypt’s four-year parliamentary hiatus. Official results will be announced on Friday. The liberal Free Egyptians party, owned by business and media tycoon Naguib Sawiris, appears to have secured the majority of party seats with a total of 65 winning candidates. Mostaqbal Watan (future of a nation) party said they won a total of 50 parliamentary seats in the two election phases. The party is supported by business tycoon Mohamed Farag Amer and steel tycoon Ahmed Abou Hashima.

EXCLUSIVE: The Emirati plan for ruling Egypt | Middle East Eye. KUNA : Egypt's last election's round gets underway - Politics - 21/11/2015. By Ragheb Shawki CAIRO, Nov 21 (KUNA) -- Second and last round of Egypt's parliamentary elections got underway on Saturday with citizens in diaspora casting their ballots, one day ahead of internal balloting covering 16 governorates. The polling abroad will end on Sunday, when the two-day internal vote-casting process begins in Cairo, El-Qalubia, El-Daqahlia, El-Mannoufia, El-Gharbia, Kafr El-Sheikh, El-Sharqia, Dimyat, Port Said, Ismailiya, Suez, North Sina and South Sinai.

The citizens living abroad are casting their ballots at 139 embassies and consulates. Up to 2,831 candidates contest for the 222 individual's seats. The polling is supervised by 102 general committees and 12,496 sub-committees. In the lists, there are 195 nominees, vying for 60 eats in Cairo and East Delta. The electorate is estimated at more than 28 million. Voting is a key counter-terrorism measure: Election observers. Voting in elections is one way of fighting terrorism, according to members of the joint international-local mission to observe Egypt’s parliamentary elections. The observer mission, which is hosted by Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights, includes about 150 foreign observers from some 38 countries. Other participants in the observer mission include the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD), the International Institute for Peace, Justice and Human Rights (IIPJHR), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

At a press conference on Saturday to mark the start of the second electoral phase, members of the mission outlined their role and concerns, as well as underlining the importance of elections in bolstering democracy in the face of terrorist violence. Abouzar Al-Mana, the representative of GNRD, told conference attendees: “Elections, whether parliamentary or presidential, are one of the democratic tools to counter terrorism.” Egypt Enters the Danger Zone. It is probably ironic that any return of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) to the political theatre in Egypt would be the result of the actions of nobody other than the regime of President Abdel Fattah Al Sissi. The fall of former President Mohamed Morsi, which was triggered by massive public protests in June 2014, spread a typical Egyptian joke: In 50 years, Presidents Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak tried in vain to defeat the MB, it took Morsi only one year to do it.

However, the joke seems to have a second unexpected episode. It seems that the regime of Sissi, an arch enemy of the MB, is working hard to reverse what Morsi did so effectively. Sissi had it all -huge public support, a sincere will to put the country together, popular fatigue of demonstrations and protests, a wounded Islamic opposition and wide regional support. What he did not have is a deep understanding of how to handle the mess and a detailed plan to rebuild the country with as little as was available at the time.

Elisa Campioni - Certo si avvicina la caduta del cassiere... ANALYSIS: Are we entering the final days of Sisi’s rule in Egypt? President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi leaves in a car after arriving at Indira Gandhi International Airport (AFP) After a series of crises over the past few weeks, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi’s government has come under deep domestic and international criticism for repression and inadequacy. As widespread flooding in Alexandria has brought pressure upon Sisi domestically, his government has drawn global condemnation for its repression of journalists, so soon after his visit to the UK.

At the same time, and only a few weeks after a group of eight Mexican tourists were killed in the Egyptian desert, a Russian plane crashed in Sharm el-Sheikh killing all 224 passengers on board. The incident, suspected to be the result of a terrorist act, has raised questions about Egypt’s ability to maintain domestic security and provide the West a dependable regional partner. But analysts believe the incidents have created a dramatic shift in foreign governments' perception of Sisi. Alexandria flooding. In Egypt, angry talk of Western conspiracy over plane crash. CAIRO — Egyptian media have reacted with fury as Britain and the United States increasingly point to a bomb as the cause of the Oct. 31 Russian plane crash in Sinai, with many outlets hammering home the same message: Egypt is facing a Western conspiracy that seeks to scare off tourists and destroy the country’s economy.

The warnings of a plot have been widely promoted by opinion-makers in print, online, and on TV, sometimes hinting and sometimes saying flat-out that the West has restricted flights to Egypt not purely out of safety concerns for its citizens but because it wants to undermine the country or prevent President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi from making Egypt too strong. And though they seem wild, these conspiracy theories have apparently tapped into the Egyptian mindset — so much so that when Russia last Friday grounded all flights to Egypt, some media speculated that Moscow had fallen victim to British pressure and manipulation. “Even you, Putin?” UN Egyptian delegation responds to EU human rights report. Aereo russo, la "mente" dell'attentato un leader egiziano dell'Is. Egypt Detains Prominent Human Rights Activist And Reporter. A coup busted? Nour Party, Egypt's political Islam sole survivor, left with dim election hopes.

Businessinsider. Political parties 'buying popular candidates' ahead of parliamentary elections: report. Parliamentary Elections Update: The Week in Review. Sissi and Apathy Rule as Eyptians Go to Polling Booths - Middle East - Israel News - Haaretz Israeli News Source. Sisi in London: What to Expect. ما بعد سقوط السيسي؟؟ Egyptian Election 2015: Low Turnout And Voter Indifference Makes Victory For President El-Sisi Inevitable.