Egypt's two presidential candidates officially began campaigning on Saturday. And one of the first moves of both campaign teams was to launch Twitter hashtags. On the first day of campaigning Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi's official Twitter account, @AlsisiOfficial, launched the hashtag #Tahya Masr (Long Live Egypt), echoing his campaign's slogan. By Tuesday afternoon Al-Sisi's official Twitter account had 114,762 followers and his campaigns' hashtag had been used 250,527 according to hashtag monitoring and analytics website Topsy.com. “I promise to work hard, and I demand that everybody takes responsibility with me. Building this country is the responsibility of all of us,” Al-Sisi wrote on his Twitter account in Arabic on Saturday. “Determination will enable Egyptians to unite for stability, security, and hope for all,” Al-Sisi added in an English tweet. The Sabahi campaign's official account, @SabahyCampaign, launched a hashtag called #Ha Nekamel Helmena (We Will Continue Our Dream), again echoing his campaign slogan. By Tuesday the hashtag had been used 23,856 times, the official account of his campaign had 101,803 followers and Sabahi's own account 1,855,620. In the first hours of the hashtags' launch Sabahi's was used more than Al-Sisi's. The pattern was soon reversed and by Tuesday Al-Sisi had dramatically turned the tables. A hashtag is a word or acronym used to describe a tweet in order for people to easily follow a conversation. Hashtags began as a community effort to tag individual tweets. Once their popularity took off Twitter began supporting hashtags by automatically linking them into the search engine so as to ease the search for a specific hashtag. On his campaign's official Twitter account Sabahi promised help for small businesses, to improve living standards, especially for slum dwellers, and increase minimum wages to LE1200. “In order to be free, and for oppression to be lifted, the voice of justice must be the loudest and strongest,” read one tweet on his campaign's account. Sources close to Al-Sisi's campaign reject the possibility of a head-to-head debate between the candidates. Sabahi has invited his rival to a public debate during which the candidates can present their electoral platforms to the public. At a public press conference in Assiut on Saturday Sabahi said that a debate would allow voters to get to know the contenders and was a public right. Supporters of the rival candidates used the hashtags to express their positions. Former presidential candidate Amr Moussa was the first public figure to tweet on the #Tahya Masr hashtag. “Egypt can return to its role in serving Egyptians, leading the region and playing its role internationally. Diligence, hard work and loyalty to Egypt is the key, and I call on all Egyptians to work hard,” Moussa wrote on his official Twitter account. Following Al-Sisi's first major television interview on Monday veteran rights activist Gamal Eid wrote on his Twitter account: “After watching Al-Sisi's interview I'll vote for Hamdeen.” The hashtag competition spawned sarcastic tweets on both sides. “We will continue our dream only to ‘long live Egypt',” Sabahi's daughter tweeted @SalmaSabahy . “I'll vote for whoever I'm not afraid of: anchors Lamis Al-Hadidi and Ibrahim Eissa were very frightened while interviewing Al-Sisi,” wrote @Noha__hanim. Another supporter of Sabahi, @pharmaahmed1, wrote: “Al-Sisi only meets with elites while Hamdeen meets with masses and ordinary citizens, the message is clear.” Al-Sisi supporters mocked Sabahi's hashtag. “We will continue our dream? Who woke you up? Go back to sleep and continue your dream,” wrote @nany_turky. In the 2012 election Sabahi finished third, behind Morsi and Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafik. Al-Sisi, appointed Minister of Defence by Morsi in 2012, resigned from the Armed Forces in March to compete in this month's election. The Presidential Elections Commission will convene soon to discuss what action it should take in response to Sabahi's announcing his electoral programme ahead of 2 May — the official date set for campaigns to start. A decision is expected to be announced next Saturday. Sabahi announced his vision in a press conference on 30 April. According to the constitution, candidates who breach the set dates can be fined from LE10,000 to LE500,000.
