The current wave of restrictions on liberties in Egypt (including the shutting down of the independent satellite channel Orbit) has to do with the regime's concern with the long-term consequences of not restricting liberties, especially as opposition parties, while not too powerful, are still powerful enough to raise concerns, argues Mustapha Kamal al-Sayyed, professor of political science at Cairo University, in an opinion piece published in the privately-owned Al-Shorouk. Ironically, however, Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Moufid Shehab asserted during a meeting at the headquarters of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) that the government is working toward promoting human rights issues, reports state-owned Al-Gomhorriya. Shebab stressed that Egypt has made progress in this regard, and that the government is working to enhance the role of civil society organizations in electoral monitoring. Amendments to the political rights law are currently under review by President Hosni Mubarak, report both state- and privately-owned newspapers. The amendments are primarily concerned with regulating voting procedures, including the counting and processing of votes for female quota seats in 22 districts. Shehab pointed out that a proposal from civil society organizations to allow registration in voter registries based on national IDs has been rejected, according to Al-Gomhorriya. According to state-owned Rose al-Youssef, the NCHR asked Shehab to add an article stipulating LE200,000 as a ceiling for campaign expenditure, as well as a warning about the use of religious slogans, to the proposed amendments to the political rights law. The council also expressed its rejection of international electoral monitoring. Opposition leaders are “depressed” by the proposed amendments to the electoral law, which they describe as “not fundamental,” according to privately-owned Al-Shorouk. Osama al-Ghazali Harb, head of the Democratic Front Party, argued that the amendments are an indication of the regime's “inability to positively respond to the demands of the opposition and the public as a whole.” Opposition leaders were mostly pessimistic about the possibility of pressuring for changes to the amendments, with the exception of Mohamed Saad al-Katatni, head of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc, who stated that “it is possible to try to pressure and do our part, since this is the last chance.” At the same time, however, al-Katatni pointed out that the NDP must have the political will to conduct free and fair elections. While Safwat al-Sherif, NDP secretary-general, has described NDP internal elections as competitive but “cordial and quiet,” according to a report on Al-Gomhorriya's front page, privately-owned Al-Wafd reports that elections in Alexandria's Karmouz, Gumruk, and Manshiya districts witnessed violent clashes between candidates. In Karmouz, security forces were used to break up the clash. Other reports in privately-owned newspapers highlight intense infighting within the NDP and widespread vote-buying. NDP candidates spend millions before the door is opened to formal candidacy in the parliamentary elections, reports Al-Shorouk in a story that occupies half of the paper's elections page. Intense struggles and infighting within the ranks of the NDP (even among family members) characterize the race over NDP candidacy in two districts in Shubra al-Khaima, according to the report. NDP infighting has taken different forms as well, adds another report by Al-Shorouk. In the Sahel district of Shubra al-Khaima, NDP candidates are involved in a “war of complaints” against each other, including a complaint lodged against Mohammed Mutawi--owner of al-Radwan pharmaceutical company--who has five court rulings against him. Al-Wafd reports that the “stock market” of votes in NDP internal elections has gone up dramatically in Alexandria districts. Votes in Alexandria's Mina al-Basal district reached LE700 for a famous wood trader. In other districts, votes ranged between LE100 and LE200. In Alexandria's Sidi Gaber district, the district secretary--also an employee of the Talaat Mustafa Group--distributed large sums of money to voters at the NDP primaries to elicit their support for Tarek Talaat Mustafa. The Muslim Brotherhood's participation in the upcoming elections continues to fuel sizable coverage in today's papers. Al-Wafd reports on its front page that the Brotherhood's guiding council has launched a powerful attack against Moufid Shehab's statement describing the Muslim Brotherhood as “outlawed” and asserting that the group will not receive 88 seats again in the 2010 parliamentary elections. Mohammed Saad al-Katatni, who is a member of the MB guiding council and media spokesperson for the movement, said that Shehab is a man of law, but his statement had nothing to do with law. Instead, Shehab's statement only demonstrates the NDP's anxiety regarding the Brotherhood's popularity, according to al-Katani. Al-Gomhorriya reports that Mustafa al-Fiqqi--a leading member of the NDP and member of the Shura Council--stated during a lecture at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University that the “outlawed”--referring to the Muslim Brotherhood--is the “main problem in Egypt's political trajectory.” Al-Fiqqi said the Brotherhood develops itself negatively and stressed the need to combat fundamentalism and the mixing of religion and politics. He also said there was a need to confront the marriage of power and money. Meanwhile state-owned Rose al-Youssef turns attention (on its front page) to the heightened “struggle” within the “outlawed” Muslim Brotherhood, regarding the movement's decision to participate in the 2010 parliamentary elections. According to the report, Haytham Abu Khalil, a member of the boycott front (largely composed of former Brotherhood members), announced that several influential members of the Muslim Brotherhood are joining the front, making it difficult for the movement's Guidance Bureau to take any punitive measures against them. Egypt's papers: Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size Al-Gomhorriya: Daily, state-run Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run, close to the National Democratic Party's Policies Secretariat Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party Youm7: Weekly, privately owned Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
