CAIRO: Gameela Ismail announced she will run for Parliament in next month's elections. Ismail will be running as an independent under the slogan, “bread and dignity” in the Qasr el-Nil district in downtown Cairo. Ismail is a well-known and respected political activist as well as an advocate for civil and women's rights in Egypt. Ismail will be running for one of the regular seats in the Egyptian parliament, not for one of the additional 65 seats added to the parliament this year as part of a new women's quota. Consequently, Ismail will be running against Hisham Mustafa Khalil, a powerful member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and son of Mustafa Khalil, one of Egypt's former Prime Ministers. Khalil is what Ismail considers a typical NDP candidate – wealthy and powerful. Ismail expects a tough battle. “I'm someone outside the [NDP's] calculations,” she told Bikya Masr, meaning she has made no deal with the government, as many ‘opposition' groups are believed to have made. Qasr el-Nil is a strategic district in Cairo, housing numerous government buildings, including the television building. Despite being banned from presenting for the past few years, Ismail is still an employee of the Egyptian television. “This constituency can be very representative of what will happen” in the upcoming elections, said Ismail. She expects to have trouble campaigning in the district, including hanging posters or going door-to-door speaking with residents. Ismail, who ran for Shura Council in 2001, expects the government to use scare tactics against those around her as happened in 2001. “They will not arrest me,” she said. “They will arrest the people around me.” The Egyptian government finally announced the official date of next month's poll only last week: November 28. That leaves precious little time for candidates to campaign, particularly since the scheduled period for candidates to submit their papers for nomination doesn't open until November 3. By the time the period for submission closes and a second period during which nominations can be contested opens and closes, candidates will have barely two weeks to officially campaign. In comparison to countries with a strong democratic tradition, such as the United States, the campaign time is exceptionally short. In Canada, for example, the minimum length of a campaign is 36 days. BM
