Cairo: On Friday, Bikya Masr spent the day campaigning in Zamalek with Parliamentary candidate Gameela Ismail. Ismail is running in the Qasr el-Nil district, which includes part of downtown Cairo, Munira, Zamalek, and the Gezira club. The morning began at Maarashly Church, just across the street from the American University in Cairo's Zamalek dorms, where a group of young men and women gathered outside the church. They carried hundreds of pamphlets containing Ismail's political platform and candidate information. After a long and heated discussion with a police officer, the young men and women were permitted to distribute the pamphlets. One of the older women who had been speaking with the officer told Bika Masr, “The officer is afraid.” She continued in a low voice, “He is afraid of us. He asked his commander to send him somewhere else.” Ismail greeted the congregation as they left the service, and shortly after greeted people outside a mosque a few blocks away as they finished their prayers. Outside the mosque, a policeman inquired about Ismail's health and where she was living, and made no attempt to hinder the young people handing out her pamphlets. Ismail and her entourage of a dozen supporters made their way through the streets of Zamalek, handing out pamphlets and speaking with shop owners, building door men, and people on the streets. One young woman said it was difficult handing out pamphlets in Zamalek because “there are so many foreigners.” A trio of street children carrying lemons and roses tailed the group for about an hour, fascinated with the whole ordeal. As Ismail passed through one back street, cries of “Inti w bas!” – only you – rang out from above, where two men and a woman stood on a balcony waving down at Ismail. She hurried into the building and up a few flights of stairs, where she and a few of her team were greeted enthusiastically by an elderly woman who insisted on handing out chocolates and inviting them inside. “Ya Rab, ya Rab,” she repeated as she, her husband, and son posed for a picture with Ismail. Before Ismail and her supporters left, the woman's son eagerly took a handful of Ismail's posters, promising to post them around the neighborhood. The afternoon proceeded in a similar fashion. Ismail's team of young men and women moved ahead of her to pass out the pamphlets, and Ismail followed, pausing to shake hands or debate politics with any who desired to speak with her. After stopping for a quick lunch of shwaerma on the street, Ismail and a few of her supporters moved to the Gezira Club on the other side of the Zamalek island. Once in the club, Ismail instructed her team to move quickly and distribute as many pamphlets as they could. Twice Ismail's team was stopped by security, but each time the issue was smoothed over and as the sun set over a hundred pamphlets had been passed out among Egypt's elite. Ismail moved among the tables on the grounds, introducing herself and occasionally pulling up a chair to sit down and talk politics. Late in the evening she paused to greet her mother and sister-in-law, then once more moved on to speak with potential voters. While not all of the members of the Gezira club are in Ismail's district and others don't have voting cards, many are eligible to vote in Qasr el-Nil. Under Egyptian law, Egyptians can register their voting cards either under their residence or their place of work. Qasr el-Nil contains many government offices – such as the Mugamma and the Television building, of which Ismail is technically an employee – as well as private offices. Currently, there are three available Parliamentary seats for the Qasr el-Nil district. Under Egyptian law, every district has two – one regular seat and another workers' seat. Additionally, Qasr el-Nil has a third seat which makes up part of the new women's quota, 65 seats added to the Parliament this year specifically for women. Ismail, who opposes the women's quota, is one of eighteen registered candidates running for the regular seat in Qasr el-Nil. Her opponents include Hisham Mostafa Khalil, the current MP of the district and son of one of Egypt's former Prime Ministers, and Hamada Morsi, a successful businessman native to the district and new to politics. Elections will take place on Sunday, November 28. BM
