By Heba Fahmy
CAIRO/ALEXANDRIA: The slogans can be catchy, witty, religious, or cheesy. The banners and posters promoting candidates running in this year’s parliamentary elections have taken over almost every corner in the country in a widespread battle for voters’ attention.
Playing on famous slogans from past elections (mainly the Muslim Brotherhood’s banned “Islam is the Solution”), symbols assigned to candidates by authorities, or employing cliché metaphors and rhyme, the slogans used on the banners was a battle of wits. Although in this particular battle, the outcome leaned more towards the funny and cheesy departments rather than those of the catchy and smart.
But the bigger battle, at least for opposition candidates, was mainly to get permission to put up the banners (and to keep the banners) in the streets.
In addition, campaigning has come under much tighter scrutiny since the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) banned the use of religious slogans. The ban caused quite a stir when it was announced, as religious slogans have typically been immensely popular in past elections. But the ban doesn’t seem to have been effective.
Walking through the pedestrian tunnel leading to Mohamed Kishk Street in Shubra El-Kheima, for example, there are various posters of independent candidate Mohamed Ahmed Youssif that quote a verse from the Quran, which translates to “You have no ally or supporter without Allah.”
Another one of the banners hanging in the area for an independent candidate reads: “If Allah helps you triumph, then no one can defeat you.”
And yet another banner for a female parliamentary hopeful quotes a Quranic verse, translating to: “Work, and Allah and the prophets and the believers will recognize your work.”
Not all of the campaign posters in Shubra El-Kheima have religious slogans, though. Mohamed El-Beltagi, an independent candidate affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), has two small posters located underneath the Ahmed Orabi Bridge that read: “Together for reform.”
“The day after I put [up] my posters and banners, the National Democratic Party (NDP) bullies tore them down,” El-Beltagi told Daily News Egypt. “So I had to resort to direct contact with the voters … using the internet to campaign for the elections.”
On the walls of Belal Ibn Rabbah Mosque in Zakaria Street, there are several large posters promoting the NDP candidates. Also on the mosque, on a much smaller scale, was a subtle sticker for El-Beltagi that displays his website’s web address and provides absolutely no indication that he is even a candidate for the parliamentary elections.
A 30-minute walk from the metro station in Shubra El-Kheimaleads to a forest of banners and posters promoting NDP candidate Megahed Nassar and El-Beltagi’s opponent. It’s easy to find oneself subconsciously muttering the slogan prominently displayed on all the banners: “Yes to the sincerity of a word.”
Opposition candidates often note a disparity in how authorities treat opposition candidates’ banners and NDP’s.
In front of Cairo University in the Giza district, there are dozens of posters and banners that fill the streets which promote independent, NDP and Al-Ghad candidates. Al-Ghad has officially boycotted this year’s elections. There was no trace of any banners or posters for Al-Wafd Party or MB candidates.
“We [the MB] have to get a permit from the head of the district to be able to put up our banners, and the head of the district refuses to give us permits,” MB-affiliated independent candidate in the Giza district Azab Moustafa told Daily News Egypt. “So I only have about 10 banners in the whole district. They include the slogan: ‘Together we bear all that is good for the people.’ I prefer not to use religious slogans because of the restrictions [enforced] by the SEC, but all the slogans we [the MB] use stems from our main slogan: ‘Islam is the solution.’”
“Most of our candidates’ posters and banners have been torn down by bullies supporting the NDP,” Sayyed Abdel Aty, Al-Wafd supervisor of elections, told Daily News Egypt. “The candidates had to [resort to solely] meeting with the voters personally and holding press conferences [in order to] campaign for themselves.”
Among the banners promoting Al Ghad party candidates was one for Ahmed Fekry which, underneath his picture, read: “member of the executive bureau of Al Ghad Party and Al Ghad candidate,” along with his slogan, “Loving Egypt is the solution.”
Another candidate, Faten Radwan, had a banner on display attributing her to Al Ghad Party with the slogan: “The daughter of Upper Egypt.”
Based solely on the diversity of banners in the area, Ibrahimia Square in Alexandria would appear to be one of the few locations that demonstrate fair campaign advertisement practices for candidates of political parties officially recognized by the government.
Manal Hafez, Al-Wafd female candidate for Alexandria, evoked Al-Wafd’s founder Saad Zaghloul’s words in her slogan: “Truth is above the nation and the nation is above the government.”
A banner for independent candidate Yasser El Meligi read: “Your vote is precious; give it to the one who deserves it.”
In the area, NDP banners featured a check marked “Yes” on the top right of their posters — a feature commonly found on posters which support ElBaradei for Egypt’s president.
In Bab Al-Shaariya district, Al-Wafd candidate and famous actress Samira Ahmed has a large banner that reads: “I’m your voice and you’re my conscience.”
If the sheer numbers of campaign banners and posters are any indication of what the outcome of the elections will be, then the NDP will dominate — especially in Nasr City and Heliopolis, where NDP posters overshadow the competition.
Campaign posters of Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy and Presidential Chief of Staff Zakaria Azmy dominate the Heliopolis and Nasr City and Zaitoun districts, respectively. Azmy’s posters all include the slogan: “A promise is truth.” Few independent candidates’ banners appear.
As Election Day steadily approaches, it will be interesting to see what effect — if any — all of the effort put into creating and displaying these banners and posters will have on the parliamentary elections’ final outcome on Nov. 28.
