Mona El-Nahhas assesses the chances of presidential contender Hisham El-Bastawisi Hisham El-Bastawisi is one of five left leaning presidential candidates. He first came to public attention as a reformist judge, spearheading the battle for greater judicial independence that began in 2005. El-Bastawisi is married to Olfat El-Sahli and is father of three sons: Mohamed, Ahmed and Mustafa. El-Bastawisi began his career in 1976, immediately after graduating in law from Cairo University, working first as a deputy prosecutor at the Customs Authority and then at the juvenile court. In the early 1990s he was delegated to the United Arab Emirates, where he worked for four years as a legal counsellor. There El-Bastawisi led the first demonstration of Egyptian judges, protesting against the suspension of two colleagues. In 1998 El-Bastawisi joined the Court of Cassation Court and two years later was appointed deputy chief justice. He was promoted to deputy chief justice of the Cassation Court in 2000. He led the campaign to expose electoral fraud following the 2005 parliamentary polls, speaking to the media about vote rigging and the pressure placed on supervising judges. Together with reformist judge Mahmoud Mekki, he was referred to a disciplinary tribunal in 2006, accused of tarnishing the image of the judiciary. Former justice Minister Mahmoud Abul-Leil later admitted that he had been pressed by the regime to discipline El-Bastawisi. The treatment of Mekki and El-Bastawisi stirred a wave of anger among judges and the wider public. As the hearings proceeded strikes were staged in support of the two judges in which several political activists who took part in the demonstrations were beaten and arrested by security forces. During the course of investigations El-Bastawisi suffered a heart attack. In hospital he was visited by scores of supporters and attracted the sympathy of many ordinary citizens. Abul-Leil was among the visitors. In an attempt to head off public anger the tribunal eventually issued a softly worded reprimand. Tired of Egypt's stultifying political situation El-Bastawisi moved to Kuwait in 2008, returning to Egypt with the outbreak of the 25 January Revolution. He participated in the 18-day occupation of Tahrir Square. RUNNING FOR PRESIDENCY: In March 2011 El-Bastawisi revealed his intention to stand as a presidential candidate, arguing at the time that his experience as a judge meant he was in a position to enforce the rule of law, essential to any democracy. According to El-Bastawisi, only judges can practice democracy, as the judicial system is mainly based on democratic principles, on top of which is the respect of the law. So, a candidate with the characteristics of a judge, added El-Bastawisi, is most competent to introduce integrity to Egypt's political sphere. He temporarily halted his campaign in the wake of bloody protests in Mohamed Mahmoud Street, saying it was no time to talk about the presidency while people were sacrificing their lives. In November 2011, El-Bastawisi went to Kuwait for a few months. When he returned he announced his intention to resume his electoral campaign. In March 2012 the leftist Tagammu Party named El-Bastawisi as its presidential candidate. Party officials said El-Bastawisi joined Tagammu immediately after resigning from the judicial corps. They said he was a Tagammu member before he started his judicial career. ELECTORAL PROGRAMME: El-Bastawisi has said that if he wins he will rule through a presidential council, including three vice presidents drawn from different political backgrounds. This council will make decisions in consensus. He has called for greater protection of human rights and the rights of minorities, and says he will promote social justice within the framework of Islamic law. He is in favour of building new agricultural and industrial communities in an attempt to redress the balance between Upper and Lower Egypt. A central plank of El-Bastawisi's economic policy is to promote workers' stakes in the companies in which they are employed. Such empowerment, he argues, will promote increased productivity. El-Bastawisi has criticised the way in which privatisation was managed under the former regime, arguing that it served the interest of a corrupt minority at the expense of the people. He has also criticised the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' (SCAF) performance in the transitional period, blaming the current state of chaos on the political inexperience of the military and its reliance on inadequate advice. Assessing the current transitional period, El-Bastawisi admitted that the SCAF committed a series of "fatal mistakes" and made several flawed moves which led to the current state of chaos. El-Bastawisi attributed the poor performance of the SCAF to their lack of political experience and their dependence on advisors he described as incompetent. El-Bastawisi did not support the holding of presidential elections before a new constitution was in place on the grounds that it would promote dictatorship. He views the current situation as a constitutional dilemma, saying a constitution must be written before institutions are built. El-Bastawisi is the only candidate who suggested the formation of a presidential council to solve the problem. CHANCES OF SUCCESS: Political analysts see El-Bastawisi as an outsider whose presidential chances are compromised by the existence of stronger leftist candidates like Hamdeen Sabahi and Abul-Ezz El-Hariri with a higher public profile. Amr Hashem Rabei argues that it was a mistake for El-Bastawisi, known for his opposition to the Mubarak regime, to allow himself to be linked with the Tagammu, which had adopted a host of pro-Mubarak stances. "Realising that he could not collect the 30,000 proxies required of independent candidates El-Bastawisi hurried to join the Tagammu to circumvent the rule. I think what he did is a kind of political opportunism," says Rabei. El-Bastawisi has also been criticised by commentators for returning to Kuwait shortly after announcing his intention to run in the polls. "At a time when other presidential candidates were working hard, meeting the people and announcing their electoral programmes, El-Bastawisi was working in Kuwait and making money," points out Rabei. Mustafa Kamel El-Sayed does not think El-Bastawisi will be able to win, citing limited campaign funding as one reason. "A successful presidential election campaign requires financial resources beyond those El-Bastawisi and his party command," says El-Sayed. "He is also hampered by his relative lateness on the political scene." El-Sayed thinks it was unwise for El-Bastawisi to have returned to Kuwait, losing several months of campaigning during which his competitors Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh and Amr Moussa were building momentum. "El-Bastawisi's sudden disappearance from the political scene at such critical time will cost him support," says El-Sayed.
