Presidential Election
Head of the State Lawsuits Authority: The Election Announces the End of the “Couch Party”
Counsellor Mosaad Abdel Maqsoud, head of the State Lawsuits Authority and head of its operations room for monitoring the presidential election, said that the heavy participation in the election confirms that “the couch party no longer exists”.
Abdel Maqsoud made his statements to the programme “Kelma Akhira”, broadcast on Sunday evening on ON E, explaining that all polling stations received voters at nine in the morning, except for a limited number that saw a delay of no more than a few minutes.
Journalists Syndicate Resolves 3 Complaints about Election Coverage
The Journalists Syndicate revealed that its operations room followed colleagues’ performance of their duties while covering the presidential election throughout the day, from the opening of the polls, in the presence of Khaled El-Balshy and Gamal Abdel Rahim, its secretary-general.
It said in a statement yesterday, Sunday: “Despite the regular conduct of the electoral process, the room received a complaint about journalists holding permits being prevented from covering and filming at the polling station in the Martyr Ahmed Abdel Rahim El-Sersy School in Shebin El-Kom in Menoufia governorate; the problem was immediately resolved and colleagues were allowed to film.”
The room also received a complaint that the head of a polling station at the Menshiyet El-Tahrir Youth Centre in Helmiyet El-Zeitoun refused to provide any information about the station’s work.
The statement said the room received a complaint about journalists being prevented from covering and filming at the polling station in El-Sayeda Zeinab Primary School in Cairo governorate, and the problem was immediately resolved.
The syndicate’s operations room continues its work today, Monday, the second day of the presidential election, to follow up on and facilitate colleagues’ performance of their duties in covering the election.
The syndicate urged colleagues to cover the voting process professionally and neutrally, without bias towards any of the candidates, and urged the executive authorities to facilitate colleagues’ work while carrying out their duties inside polling stations and around them.
She Voted Twice… “Lebleba” Faces Prison and a Fine
The National Election Authority referred for investigation the case of actress Lebleba voting a second time in the presidential election inside Egypt, despite having voted at a polling station abroad in Saudi Arabia.
Under Article 66 of the Law on the Exercise of Political Rights, “anyone who casts their vote in an election or referendum knowing that they are not entitled to do so shall be punished by imprisonment for no less than one month and a fine of no less than EGP 500 and no more than EGP 1,000, or by one of these two penalties.
“The same penalty also applies to anyone who casts their vote impersonating someone else, as well as anyone who takes part in the same election or referendum more than once.”
The National Election Authority’s monitoring committee had managed to detect and record the case of a female voter casting her vote in the presidential election that began today, despite having previously voted during the period allocated for Egyptians abroad to vote on 1, 2 and 3 December.
The National Election Authority’s operations room established that the voter had indeed cast her vote at the sub-polling station located at one of the Egyptian embassies in an Arab country during the days set for Egyptians abroad to vote, and that she proceeded to vote again during the electoral process that took place today.
The authority stated that after examining the case, it was found that the general electoral committee supervising the sub-polling station where the voter cast her vote today had indeed taken the necessary legal measures against the voter after the case was detected, and referred her to the competent judicial investigation authorities.
“Bakry”: The Gaza War Aimed to Spoil the Election… “Moussa”: We Will Set a Record… and “El-Baz” Praises the Spirit of 30 June
MP and media figure Mostafa Bakry considered that there are major conspiracies against Egypt, saying: the state has been targeted from the north-east, “the war on Gaza”, to spoil the electoral process.
He added in an interview with the programme “Fi Al-Masaa with Qaswaa” on CBC yesterday that some forces first cast doubt on the candidates, and then on the procedures for organising the vote and judicial supervision.
He stressed that the Egyptian people responded to this conspiracy with the utmost strength, also praising the media’s coverage and handling of the electoral process in a way that calls for a sense of pride, in his words.
For his part, Ahmed Moussa described the turnout on the first day of voting as evidence that the people back and support the Egyptian state.
He added on the programme “Ala Mas’ouliyati”, broadcast on Sada El-Balad channel, that Egypt’s ladies and great women are the password, noting that Egyptian women are always the first supporters of the Egyptian state.
He stressed that the Egyptian people will not rest until they set a historic record for voting in the presidential election, in response to everyone who doubted their participation in the presidential election.
Journalist Mohamed El-Baz said that the Egyptian character can distinguish real danger from fake danger, noting that Egyptians turning out today to take part in the 2024 presidential election expresses the spirit of the 30 June revolution.
He added: “We are talking about choosing the future in this decisive election, which was marked by pluralism after the candidates appeared in various venues to present their ideas, and they have a critical vision of the current experience, which they expressed amid the dynamism that Egyptian society is witnessing. Therefore, the Egyptian citizen was not confiscated or blinded towards a single candidate.”
Economy
“Agriculture”: Potato Prices to Fall in Two Weeks
Egyptian Minister of Agriculture El-Sayed El-Quseir said that farmers feel the support and effort made by state institutions for the sector as a whole, noting that the state has taken proactive measures to achieve food security.
On the rise in potato and onion prices, the Minister of Agriculture affirmed that the current rise is caused by the seasonal planting cycle, saying: “We are looking for alternatives and mechanisms to avoid that period and shorten it, and this wave of price rises is expected to end within 15 days at most.”
He added that prices are governed by cost elements such as fertilisers, land rent and labour, all of which lead to higher prices.
El-Quseir continued, in a phone-in with presenter Sayed Ali on the programme “Hadret El-Mowaten” on Al-Hadath Al-Youm channel on Sunday evening, that the state has not seen any crises in the availability of agricultural products throughout the year, explaining that his ministry is keen to fill the gaps in the growing seasons and to overcome what is known as the planting-cycle gap by expanding greenhouse cultivation.
A Kilo of “Unsubsidised” Sugar on the Ration Card
Consumer complexes of the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade today began implementing the decision of Dr Ali Moselhy, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, to increase the quantities of sugar offered on ration cards and to dispense one kilo of unsubsidised sugar per ration card with 3 beneficiaries or fewer.
Two kilos of unsubsidised sugar are dispensed per card registering 4 or more beneficiaries, at EGP 27 per kilo, paid in cash, in addition to the subsidised sugar allocated to ration card holders at EGP 12.6 per kilo.
The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade provides all food commodities at consumer complex outlets and branches of affiliated companies at discounts of 20 to 25%. The ministry also provides meat, poultry, vegetables and fruit in large quantities as part of its keenness to meet citizens’ needs, while the Consumer Protection Agency monitors the markets and ensures the quality of the goods offered.
Slight Rise in Foreign Reserves in November
Net foreign reserves rose by $71 million at the end of November to reach $35.17 billion, from $35.1 billion at the end of October, recording the fifteenth consecutive monthly increase (albeit a marginal one), according to data issued by the Central Bank last Thursday.
Telecom Egypt Fined EGP 20 Million
The National Telecom Regulatory Authority fined Telecom Egypt EGP 20 million after it detected a serious failure in the infrastructure and an outage of voice and internet services in various places last Tuesday.
The authority also directed the service provider companies to compensate affected customers in accordance with the general compensation rules it issued for companies operating in the Egyptian market to protect users’ rights when services are affected.
The National Telecom Regulatory Authority had formed an emergency technical committee immediately after the outage occurred, to determine its causes and assess the extent of the resulting impact, the duration of the outage and the affected areas, until the service returned and stabilised in all areas. Based on the committee’s report, the authority issued its decision to fine the company.
The technical committee is scheduled to complete its work with internet service providers to get the full picture of the extent of the impact on services, and to take the necessary steps to protect users’ rights.
The authority stressed the need to take all measures to ensure the continuity of service provision and avoid a recurrence of network failures affecting users, in order to meet users’ needs, guarantee their rights and increase their satisfaction with the services they receive.
It is worth noting that the number of landline subscribers reached 12.23 million at the end of July 2023, compared with about 11.83 million at the end of June 2023 and 11.72 million in July 2022.
“Health” Warns: The “Cold Injection” Is Deadly… and “Pharmacists”: We Will Not Administer It
The Ministry of Health and Population warned patients against resorting to the cold injection when they catch the flu, as it contains antibiotics and “cortisone”, which may lead to death in some cases.
It said: “There have already been deaths, and it is better for the patient to treat a cold with warm fluids for 3 days.”
For his part, Dr Ahmed El-Demerdash, a member of the board of the Cairo Pharmacists Syndicate, said that most pharmacists have now stopped administering injections because pharmacists have been jailed, and patients are directed to the nearest hospital.
The sub-syndicate had asked its members to refrain from providing the injection service and to leave this service to those responsible for it until legislation is issued to protect the pharmacist and the citizen.
