The Presidency announced Thursday evening the launch of a new campaign aimed at promoting President Mohamed Morsi's first year in tenure. The campaign, known as "Morsi First Year" and launched via a website and social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook, is aimed at documenting the President's perceived successes and obstacles. At the time of writing, the only challenge listed on the website is related to the increase in electricity consumption of households, which according to government statistics rose from 43.4% of the country's total power consumption in 2005 to 46.8% during Morsi's first year. The launch of this new campaign coincides with the large Islamist protest which commenced on Friday in support of the president. The campaign also comes just nine days prior to the Tamarod campaign's call for demonstrations against Morsi and a call for early presidential elections. According to the Baseera poll presented last Sunday by the Egyptian Centre for Public Opinion Research, satisfaction with Morsi's leadership had dropped 4% in one month to an all-time low of 42%. The actual percentage drop differed from governorate to governorate, with a markedly higher drop of 8% in Upper Egypt. Only 30% of those interviewed would re-elect Morsi. According to Morsi's new campaign, there have been "more than 50 smear campaigns against the president" and "5821 demonstrations and clashes" since he first took office. According to the statement published by the Presidency, the campaign aims to "inform the public on the nature of the challenges and obstacles faced by the state apparatus, and the steps taken to address them" within a framework of transparency. The website was inaugurated by Morsi Thursday evening.
