The media, not the candidates, are proving more competitive in the presidential elections campaign. Dina Ezzat reports Following the first week of the campaign for the presidential elections, special column inches and air time were dedicated by almost every single Egyptian newspaper and TV channel and by all leading Arab papers and satellite channels. The first ever multi-candidate presidential elections in Egypt has so far proved to be a real bonanza for the Egyptian and Arab press, TV channels and radio stations. The most interesting show is on Egyptian TV. Putting aside the Egyptian flag icon that Channels One and Two have decided to keep permanently on screen during all programming hours -- all except the call for prayer -- the two leading channel of the state-owned and run TV have proved capable of opening up much more than viewers could have dared predict. Commercials of the campaign of Noaman Gomaa, the presidential candidate of the right-wing Al-Wafd Party, have been somewhat censored, as was reported by Al-Wafd, the daily mouthpiece of the party, and the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. But the commercials still carry the main theme of "enough is enough" that the Wafd Party has adopted. Other Gomaa commercials that the Saudi- financed daily Asharq Al-Awsat noted was inspired by the legacy of Al-Wafd's most prominent leader Saad Zaghloul -- the one in which he tells the nation, "elect me and make me accountable to whatever I do" are at times aired back-to-back with commercials of President Hosni Mubarak himself. They are, to be sure, not broadcast at the 7-10pm prime viewing time. The limited financial means of other presidential candidates have denied them this service but has not prevented them from the opportunity of being part of the daily reports aired by the Egyptian TV. Indeed, all presidential candidates have had their campaigns covered, albeit at varying levels of exposure, by all the semi- official dailies that have, notwithstanding, also demonstrated an unmistakable effort to secure Mubarak better images, even if at times in banal fashion. Neither the press nor TV coverage seemed to give much attention to the platforms of the candidates. Most attention seemed to go to the looks -- or in the case of President Mubarak, the new look of the candidates -- ties, hair cuts and even spouses. Many commentators noted that President Mubarak "has taken off his tie" something that Ibrahim Eissa, editor of the independent but highly vocal opposition Sunday weekly Sawt Al-Umma argued "is unlikely to help resolve the chronic socio-economic ailments of the nation". Others noted that Gomaa had stopped dyeing his hair and had accepted to promote himself as a gray-haired presidential candidate who, according to several Al-Wafd commentators, is still younger than Mubarak anyway. The orange tie of Ghad Party leader and presidential candidate Ayman Nour and the orange hair band of Nour's wife Gamila Ismail were also subject to attention from commentators who drew parallels with the presidential elections in the Ukraine where orange masses took to the streets to protest the re-election of Leonid Kuchma until the elections were replayed in favour of Victor Yushchenko. Indeed, as several commentators noted, when a few weeks ago the Iranian people elected Ahmadinejad, who was Tehran's mayor, over the veteran Iranian politician and former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, the world was taken by surprise. This week, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Raai Al-Aam noted that "Nour was hoping to replay the Nijad surprise." Nour's wife told the daily London-based Al-Hayat that the TV commercial of her husband due to be aired by Egyptian TV tonight will highlight "Nour's youth (42) compared to other aging candidates who are approaching their 80s. And he will use the palm tree which is his electoral logo to demonstrate this difference." The Mubarak electoral machine is recruiting the support of popular sports champions and movie starts including pop singer Shaaban Abdel-Rehim and the star Egyptian comedian for the past three decades Adel Imam, Asharq Al-Awsat reported. The press, satellite channels and radio stations seemed more interested in form over content. Egyptian TV was constantly quoting individuals to demonstrate the freedom that marks the presidential campaign. Al-Jazeera was more interested in the debate by Egyptian judges who still need to make up their minds on whether they will supervise the elections. The Egyptian opposition papers were concerned with what they claimed to be inefficient processing of electoral lists in a sign that "the government is set to rig the elections". Little attention was accorded to the actual platforms of the presidential candidates. Apart from the expected praise that was accorded to Mubarak's platform from some obvious supporters from the ruling National Democratic Party, very little was written in analysis of what the 10 candidates had to offer. There were exceptions. In his daily Spotlight column in Al-Ahram Makram Mohamed Ahmed criticised Nour for announcing that he would grant the influential but outlawed Muslim Brotherhood the right to establish their own political party. "Licensing a political party with a Muslim banner would mean that a Coptic party should also be licensed," Ahmed wrote. Magdi Mehana noted in his weekly column in Sawt Al-Umma that the platform of President Mubarak "sounded like a government statement before the parliament." A few commentators, including Hazem Abdel-Rahman in Al-Ahram, Galal Aref, chairman of the Press Syndicate, in the daily UAE Al-Bayan and political commentator Manar El-Shorbagui in the weekly Channel Two programme "The Red Highlight" noted that the best thing this electoral campaign had to offer the Egyptian people was the unprecedented chance to re-engage in politics that they had long abandoned. Otherwise, coverage of the first week of the presidential campaign offered too much colour and too little content.
