Yearbook 2008
Egypt. According to
Countryaah reports, the country was shaken during the year by protests
aimed at high food prices, low wages, privatizations and
layoffs. Industrial workers and lower officials, but also
doctors and university teachers, were reported to have
carried out wild strikes. Several of the protests took
center stage in the textile industrial city of al-Mahalla
al-Kubra, where police stopped a planned strike in April,
killing three of the activists. In December, 22 activists
were sentenced to prison for between three and five years.
The human rights organization Amnesty International
criticized the trial.
Prices for some food products rose by more than 50
percent in the spring and demand for state-subsidized bread
increased. A ban on rice exports was introduced and
President Hosni Mubarak promised salary increases of 30
percent to public servants. Ration card for subsidized basic
goods was reported in May to be distributed to 55 million
Egyptians, 17 million more than the month before. In order
to finance the expenditure, Parliament decided to increase
the vehicle tax as well as the taxes on petrol and
cigarettes.
The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) by far won the
local elections April 8. The country's largest opposition
party, the Prohibited Muslim Brotherhood, boycotted the
election since the vast majority of its candidates had been
banned from running for office and at least 800 of its
members had been arrested. The local councils had no great
power but indirect influence because independent
presidential candidates must have the support of at least
140 local councilors from 14 different provinces.
The 26-year-old filmmaker Noha el Ostrath became the
first in the country to report a man for sexual harassment.
The man was sentenced to three years in prison. A study
conducted by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights found
that 83 percent of the country's women have been subjected
to sexual harassment.
At a meeting in Moscow between Mubarak and Russian
President Vladimir Putin on March 26, Russia undertook to
help build an Egyptian nuclear energy industry.
At least 90 people were killed in the poor residential
area of Duwayqa in Cairo on September 6 when a number of
boulders collapsed from a mountain and smashed several
residential buildings.
In the meantime, SCAF proceeded with the election plans.
From November 28 to January 11, 2012, 1st and 2nd electoral
rounds were conducted in the various provinces of Egypt. The
Muslim Brotherhood that stood as the Democratic Alliance for
Egypt won the election big with 37.5% of the vote. The
result reflected that, since the days of the Mubarak
dictatorship, the party had been the strongest opposition
force in the country. More surprising was that the Islamic
fundamentalist al-Nour party (the so-called Salafists) got
27.8% of the vote. The Salafists had received massive
support from the fundamentalist dictatorship in Saudi
Arabia. The election result secured the 2 Islamic parties
112 out of the 148 seats of the People's Assembly (76%). The
newly elected Assembly first met on January 23.
2012 The military's struggle to retain power
The first round of the presidential election was
completed 23-24. May. By the beginning of April, 23
candidates had registered. There, among several high-ranking
politicians and military people from Mubarak's time as Omar
Suleiman (former intelligence chief and vice president) and
Ahmed Shafiq (former prime minister). On April 12,
Parliament passed a law prohibiting candidates who had held
posts in the Mubarak regime the previous 10 years. It was to
exclude Suleiman and Shafiq. SCAF subsequently ratified
Parliament's law. But on April 14, the top presidential
election commission banned 11 of the 23 candidates from
running for office. No justifications were given, only bans
with the possibility of appeal. Among the 11 were Suleiman
and Shafiq, but also the Muslim Brotherhood candidate,
Khairat el-Shater and the Salafist candidate, Hazem Salah
Abu ismail. On April 25, the Election Commission accepted
that Shafiq stood up anyway. The Commission, which consisted
of old Mubarak people, thus violated Parliament's decision.
The result of the 1st round of elections on 23-24. May
was considered by many to be a disaster. Brotherhood's new
candidate Mohamed Morsi got 24.78% of the vote while Ahmed
Shafiq came in second with 23.66%. First in third place came
Hamdeen Sabahi with 20.72% of the vote. The only one of the
three who had played a role in the upheavals the year before
and who had been jailed politically 17 times without Mubarak.
At the beginning of June, Parliament once again tried to
have Shafiq removed. It passed a law prohibiting members of
the former regime from standing. The military and the
Constitutional Court (consisting solely of judges appointed
by Mubarak) responded again by declaring on June 14 to
declare a third of Parliament's members invalid. The day
after, the SCAF disbanded the parliament and put the
parliament building under military guard. To avoid canceling
the second round of presidential elections 16-17. June, the
Brotherhood announced that it accepted the resolution. When
it became clear after the election that the Brotherhood
candidate, Mohamed Morsi had won, SCAF sent a number of
amendments to the Constitution:
- Only the SCAF itself (not the president) can
nominate members of the top military council
- SCAF chief (Field Marshal Mohammed Hessein Tantawi)
is commander of the Armed Forces (not the President) and
Secretary of Defense for a new constitution adopted
- The president can declare war only if SCAF agrees
- In the case of social unrest, the president can use
the military to restore "peace and order" - if SCAF
agrees
- SCAF assumes the legislative function until a new
parliament is elected
- A new parliament cannot be elected until a new
constitution is adopted
- If the Constitutional Assembly cannot agree on the
content of a new constitution, SCAF will take over this
work
- If elements of the new constitution such as the
President, the SCAF leadership, the Prime Minister, the
Supreme Court or 20% of the Constitutional Assembly
disagree with elements of the draft Constitution, they
may require the Assembly to revise these within 15 days.
If the Assembly refuses, the matter will be referred to
the Constitutional Court, which will take a decision
within 7 days. It is final and cannot be appealed.
On June 18, SCAF appointed 100 people to write a new
constitution.
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