The Elections: A Detour in the Roadmap?
The parliamentary elections were like the third installment in a three-part book series where the plot fizzles and loses momentum.
The reader is left wondering what went wrong with the franchise and whether the authors are trying to milk them for their money.
The elections were to be the final and most anticipated phase of Egypt’s June 30th road map to complete the country’s transition to democracy and bring back the legislative body absent for the past three years.
But with just under 30 percent of voters engaged in the first round, it appears that there’s been a detour on said roadmap.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called on Egyptians to ‘actively participate.’ But despite the hype, nationalistic pop songs and in-your-face billboards, there’s a general air of apathy surrounding these elections.
I wish more people had gone to vote, but the fact that the vast majority in the first round did not is important to investigate.
There are over one thousand candidates running for individual seats with barely any time for the voters to get to know them and know which policies they prioritize.
The few high-profile candidates that have not been marred by previous participation in Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP) are the ones with the biggest chance.
Then there are the lists.
“For the Love of Egypt”?
Without a doubt, if you’re running for parliament it is safe to assume that you love Egypt and ideally, will be looking to implement policies to better the country. However, giving an entire list a name that is not reflective of its ideology or affiliation and expecting people to be swayed by an emotional moniker is problematic.
But ultimately, my biggest concern is the target constituents.
In the weeks preceding the election, I did not feel that any of the candidates within my, or any other constituency, were trying to reach out to the voters – save for Abdel Rahim Ali (host of the infamous TV show The Black Box) who my uncle encountered in his local ahwa in Dokki.
Perhaps most striking is the absence of any social media campaigns to woo Egyptian youth – who are tuned in.
One lesson Egypt should have taken away from the January 25th revolution was just how much power social media has for youth mobilization.
Overcoming voter ambivalence in a challenge for governments everywhere, but one can only hope that the Egyptian government heeds these initial results ahead of the second round next month.
