Sara Abou Bakr speaks to the wives of the presidential candidates about their hopes and fears "I really did not want him to run for president," said Salwa Gabr Hassan of her husband, Wafd Party Chairman Noaman Gomaa. Hassan said her main concerns centered on the elections' "lack of transparency". She will, nonetheless, be as supportive as she can. Hassan is proud of her husband's political background. "He has been a Wafdist since he was 12 years old," she said. "If the elections are truly transparent and objective, Gomaa will definitely get a lot of votes." And if Gomaa wins, Hassan would view being a first lady more as a vocation than a luxury. She believes the first lady's role should never cross internationally acknowledged lines. Along with Gomaa and their two daughters, Hassan said she was part of "a politically-oriented family that has always been concerned with the hardships facing the nation". Gamila Ismail, wife of Ghad Party Chairman Ayman Nour, admitted to having mixed feelings about her husband's candidacy. "He told me he wanted to run while he was in prison, on the third day of his hunger strike," she said. Although she was concerned that Nour's candidacy might hurt his chances of being acquitted of the forgery charges against him, at the same time she strongly supports her husband's attempt to "implement real change in the country". Ismail is seen as an extremely active political wife. A TV presenter and reporter for Newsweek, she is the party's spokeswoman as well. "I have always been active in public life," she said, "so it's important for me to take part in the nation's current changes." If the elections are fair, she thinks Nour would win "because even those who don't specifically support him might see him as the opposition's best chance against the ruling party." If she were to become first lady, Ismail says she would not specifically pursue women's causes, because "women's issues should be integrated into, rather than separated from, society as a whole." Ittihadi Party candidate Ibrahim Tork's wife, Ibtisam Fathi Qassem, thinks her husband "has lots of great ideas on how to improve Egypt as a whole". She said she provides her husband with constant moral support, "by accompanying him everywhere his campaign takes him". Qassem, a housewife and mother of two young boys, is a firm believer in the importance of the first lady's role. If placed in that position, she said she would work hard for women's rights, including the need for increased representation in parliament and political life in general. Other wives also offered support. Afaf Abdel-Khaleq, wife of Al-Wifaq Al-Qawmi Party candidate Rifaat El-Agroudi, believes that she can help her husband via ideas and discussions, but "never by forcing my opinion on him, since he knows best." Abdel-Khaleq, who is a chemist and a former manager at a pharmaceutical company, expects El-Agroudi to get quite a few votes. "I know it's hard to predict, but his campaign rallies have all been successful, especially considering how small the party still is." Azza Abdel-Fattah, wife of the Arab Socialist Egypt Party candidate, Wahid El-Oqsori, said that when her husband suggested that he run for president, she agreed instantly. "It's a great opportunity for parties to present their platforms," she said. Her support stems from her conviction that El-Oqsori's platform -- with its emphasis on eliminating unemployment and poverty -- will "rebuild the Egyptian citizen on the basis of integrity". Abdel-Fattah says her job as a chemist, as well as her duties at home, leave her no time for public service. She is willing, however, to explore the possibility of working on women's issues if she becomes the first lady. As a working mother, she believes that women should work, so that they have their own identities, and fulfill their own goals. "I supported him from the beginning," said Fatma Mahmoud Salama, wife of the Egypt 2000 Party candidate Fawzi Ghazal. Ghazal's five children also solidified this support. Salama confesses that she is not really into politics, "which is why I support my husband by providing the right atmosphere at home that helps him deal with his responsibilities." Anan El-Zayat, wife of Takaful Party candidate Osama Shaltout, said she was concerned about the possibility of her husband competing against President Hosni Mubarak, who "already has a wide popular base, while the Takaful Party is still relatively small." Al-Destouri Party candidate Mamdouh Qenawi's wife Mona Hamadi chose not to speak to Al-Ahram Weekly because she "was appalled by some of the headlines [in the press] about candidates' wives; some of the questions," she said, "were so absurd" that she has decided to avoid the media as a whole. Umma Party candidate Ahmed Sabahi's wife passed away right before his electoral campaign was launched. The rumour is that the 92-year-old is looking for a potential first lady.
