CAIRO: Much-needed campaigns and initiatives raising awareness about the elections and encouraging people to vote have mushroomed over the past weeks, as Egyptians headed to the polls to choose their MPs in the first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections. Polling stations opened their doors on Nov. 28 in the first of three stages that end in early January to choose members of the People's Assembly, the lower house of parliament. The initiatives aimed at enlightening voters and emphasizing the importance of each vote. Protect your voice One of these initiatives is “Ehmy Sotak,” or “Protect your Vote,” which defines itself as the “voting bloc for the protection of citizen's rights.” “The vision behind ‘Ehmy Sotak' is citizen empowerment,” said Seif Abou Zaid, founder of the initiative. “The more we hold tight to our principles and the more we grow in numbers, the more empowered and influential we are,” he explained. Through social media and campaigning, the initiative is working on protecting votes and making individuals aware that their vote counts, whether in the local council elections or the parliamentary elections. “Protect your Vote” is working on three dimensions; first, having citizens actively participate in elections and selecting candidates based on their own informed decisions. Second, getting people to evaluate candidates based on the welfare of the country and their constituency, which will hence make candidates focus their efforts on these areas and not give empty promises. “In light of the current events, we are working on citizen empowerment too,” noted Abou Zaid. The third dimension of the initiative is working on monitoring the elections and candidates' performance before, during and after the elections to make sure candidates did not sway votes in their favor through distributing gifts, giving empty promises or tribal influence. What citizens want An NGO named Oreed, which translates into “I want,” works on emphasizing that political awareness falls under the concept of citizenship. “Citizenship includes rights, responsibilities, participation,” said Amr El Gabry, founder of Oreed. Coming from a business consultant or “capitalist” background as he points out, El Gabry wanted to bring the expertise of the corporate world into civil society. The NGO, which is still under formation, comprises a diverse group coming from a variety of professional backgrounds such as marketing, corporate management, media specialists and environmentalists. Since last March, Oreed has been holding workshops in several governorates to inform people about their rights and responsibilities. “Our mission is to have every Egyptian citizen fully aware of their rights and responsibilities and is able to actively participate in defining the future of the country,” El Gabry explained. Oreed has been focusing its efforts on helping people make sound decisions and determining what they want from a candidate. Since fliers are a campaigning tool, Oreed created infographs which explain all facets of the electoral system. “Once the person understands, it becomes easy to explain to others, thus they're making use of the word of mouth which is an effective method in Egyptian culture,” explained El Gabry. Qabila Whether it's conventional or social media, the media has proven to be a key player in politics over the past months. Qabila TV brought both together through its YouTube Channel. As Perihan Abou Zaid, one of the founders of Qabila, explains, it is a community-based service, a new unbiased neutral alternative media to cater to the demands of the people. Qabila was launched six months before the January uprising and originally aimed to trigger a cultural revival, but after the revolution the mood changed and the direction shifted to cater to the more relevant political issues. Qabila TV launched several episodes as part of their “Citizen Guide to Understanding” series, which explain a different topic each time, including concepts such as social justice, security and the economy. With over 900,000 YouTube hits on their videos and around 100,000 fans on Facebook, Qabila TV is reaching out, especially as people are interactive and participating in the discussion. As Abou Zaid put it, “they want to create a bridge between entertainment and intellectual needs." University students also felt the need to raise political awareness, which spurred the creation of the Political Science Association (PSA) at the American University in Cairo. “We are focusing on raising political awareness among the student body which is based on academic and well-researched discussions and publications,” said Sarah El Masry, a member of PSA. The club holds weekly events, which they refer to as the “political salon”, the last of which featured Ahmed Fawzy, director of the Political Enhancement Association, who explained the electoral system and responded to student inquires regarding the process.
