By Heba Fahmy
CAIRO: Lawyer Marwa Hodhod, coordinator of a campaign supporting President Hosni Mubarak as the next president of Egypt, said that 500,000 posters and 250,000 t-shirts supporting Mubarak have been printed to counter the call for nationwide protests on Jan. 25.
“Posters [supporting President Mubarak] are being hung all around Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Qena and Fayoum,” Hodhod, coordinator of a campaign titled “Mubarak is Egypt’s safety,” told Daily News Egypt.
Hodhod said that members of the Egyptian parliament and a number of businessmen had made financial contributions to print the posters and t-shirts.
“Some are with the ruling National Democratic Party, while others aren’t related to it at all,” she said.
The campaign had announced Jan. 25 as a day for expressing the people’s loyalty and support for President Mubarak to counter opposition groups’ calls for protests against the regime on the same day labeling it “The Egyptian Intifada.”
Hodhod said that the campaign supporters will not take to the streets on Jan. 25, but will suffice with putting up posters supporting Mubarak that read “We are all with you and so are our hearts.”
“We will hold a peaceful march supporting Mubarak and perform other activities following Jan. 25,” Hodhod said.
Jan. 25 is Police Day, which commemorates the 1952 struggle of the Ismailia police force against the British Occupation. The April 6 Youth Movement called on all opposition groups to protest that day condemning police brutality and corruption that have plagued Egypt.
“Egypt’s police have become [criminals] who don’t care about protecting the people, unlike the heroes of 1952,” spokesperson for the April 6 Youth Movement Mohamed Adel told Daily News Egypt
Hodhod however, disagreed. “If we didn’t have the police to protect us, there would be many terrorist and sectarian attacks and the country would be in complete chaos,” she said. “We will support Egypt’s police forces and celebrate their national holiday.”
Hodhod had launched a campaign in August supporting Gamal Mubarak, son of President Mubarak, as Egypt’s next president.
“The aim of the Gamal Mubarak campaign was to offer an alternative to President Hosni Mubarak in case the president decides not to run in 2011,” Hodhod explained. “But President Hosni Mubarak has always been our first choice.”
President Mubarak has been ruling Egypt since 1981, and is one of the Arab world’s longest-serving leaders.
“The people haven’t heard of this campaign [supporting Mubarak],”Adel said. “[The campaign’s sponsors] pay millions of pounds for nothing and they never go down in the streets and meet with the people.”
“We [April 6 Youth Movement] take to the streets and talk to the people and we pay money from our own pockets to support our cause,” he added.
Hodhod said that her campaign supporting President Mubarak as Egypt’s next president has garnered more than one million members including Copts.
