CAIRO: Two years prior to Egypt s scheduled 2011 presidential elections, former Al-Ghad party chairman Ayman Nour faces difficulties campaigning for the presidency. Nour is experiencing early challenges. In an interview with Daily News Egypt, Nour said that many of his conferences have been cancelled, all for different reasons. A July 9 Fayoum conference titled "Hand in hand we walk along, was canceled by state security officer Hamdy Al-Shimi, according to a press release by Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). The security officer forced the closure of the meeting hall a mere four hours before the conference was scheduled to begin. Another conference, which was to be held in Damietta on July 10, was also canceled. But Nour says he will not be dissuaded. Despite continued conference cancellations by state security, he is still reaching out to the Egyptian people. In a press release issued Saturday by ANHRI, the organization condemned the cancellation of Nour's July 9 public conference. The conference was to be part of Nour s preparations for the upcoming elections, promoting open dialogue between him and ordinary citizens. Nour was a presidential candidate in 2005, running against current president Hosni Mubarak in Egypt s first multi-candidate elections. Following the elections, Nour was sentenced to five years of hard labor on charges of forgery. He was released in February of this year, several months before the end of his prison sentence. According to an interview with the Center on Foreign Relations shortly before the 2005 elections, Nour stated that his previous campaign had lasted only 18 days. The 2005 campaign held 23 rallies and visited 11 different governorates. His current campaign appears to be following the example of his 2005 efforts, with outreach to citizens in various Egyptian cities. He has currently visited all of Egypt's southern governorates, as well as Alexandria, Fayoum, Damietta, and Port Said. Nour says he is knocking on doors, going into homes and discussing the problems Egyptians face. He believes this is the first time in Egypt, and perhaps in the Middle East, that campaigning has been done this way. Though Egypt's presidential elections are expected to be held in 2011, the domestic and international press has speculated they will be held at an earlier date. Nour is currently barred from participating in elections, as the Egyptian government has excluded him from participating in politics for five years after his release. Nour says that he is planning on running as an independent in the upcoming elections, which according to the Egyptian constitution, would require the endorsement of 250 of Egypt's elected officials at the People's Assembly and local councils. Amr Hashem of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, believes that Nour certainly has the international press coverage needed to play a large role in the elections. But, Hashem says, "He is facing numerous obstacles on his way to elections. It will be anything but easy.
