CAIRO // The stage is set today for a dire battle between revolutionary groups, Islamists and former members of Hosni Mubarak's regime that will play out in a presidential election run-off over the next 48 hours.
Thursday's supreme constitutional court (SCC) judgments that allowed Ahmed Shafiq to continue as a candidate and ruled a third of parliamentary seats unconstitutional were a setback for the Muslim Brotherhood, the most powerful political group in post-Mubarak Egypt.
It has yet to be seen how the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) will implement the ruling but parliament is effectively dissolved. New elections could be held for some or all of the seats, analysts say. That hurts the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party most because it had won nearly half the seats and used its influence to hold sway over new laws and appointments to a special commission to rewrite the 1971 constitution.
Officials from the Freedom and Justice Party said the SCC decisions had sharpened the importance of the presidential elections and that the party's full apparatus was focused on winning votes for Mohammed Morsi, the Brotherhood's presidential candidate opposing Mr Shafiq.
Mr Morsi's campaign is well placed to win votes today because it has the backing of the Brotherhood's network of offices and volunteers across the country, and other Islamist groups. But it has won only modest support from groups outside its traditional sphere of influence, such as the secularist April 6 Movement.
"All our efforts are now on pushing our candidate for the presidency," said Amr Darrag, a senior official in the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. "What these decisions have done is make these elections very, very important. The only hope for the Egyptian people is that Morsi takes executive power and can change the system from the inside."
Mr Darrag said the party was examining all its legal options, but would ultimately accept the decisions from the court because the party believed in the rule of law.
But he said the timing of the decision just before the run-off, and that the judges were all appointed during Mubarak's rule, suggested a "soft coup" orchestrated by the military and remnants of the Mubarak regime.
"It's like starting from zero," said Mohammed Zahid, an independent researcher in Cairo who is studying Islamist political movements. "Now the Muslim Brotherhood have no official influence. They are back to the beginning."
Many protesters and groups that had been involved in the first protests against Mubarak last year were instead calling on voters to boycott voting today or nullify their votes by writing on ballots in a bid to discredit the elections. Several hundred people marched to Tahrir Square yesterday to protest against what many said was an attempt by the military to hijack "the revolution".
The campaign of Mr Shafiq has surged in the past several weeks. He has portrayed himself as a strong hand who could bring stability to Egypt and prevent Islamist domination, winning support from Coptic Christians - many of whom fear an Islamist government would curtail their rights - businessmen, and secular-minded Egyptians.
Some of his supporters said yesterday that the SCC's decisions were a positive development for Egypt because they would mean restarting the process of writing the constitution and electing parliament in a more transparent way.
"I think it is the best situation we've had for months," said Mona Makram-Ebeid, a Coptic member of the advisory council to the Scaf. "We are going back to ground zero and this time we can get it right, starting with the constitution and then elections. The Islamists will still be powerful, but not as dominant."
Ms Makram-Ebeid said she supported Mr Shafiq because "he's a statesman, not a man of the regime".
"I compare him to Charles de Gaulle, who took a war-torn country and put it back on its feet, who spoke in a civilian language and was able to mobilise the people behind him," she said.
bhope@thenational.ae
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
RESULTS
6.30pm: Maiden Dh 165,000 1,600m
Winner: Superior, Connor Beasley (jockey), Ahmad bin Harmash (trainer)
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Winner: Tried And True, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
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Winner: Roy Orbison, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
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8.50pm
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Winner: Welford, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
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Winner: Untold Secret, Xavier Ziani, Sandeep Jadhav
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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MATCH INFO
Crawley Town 3 (Tsaroulla 50', Nadesan 53', Tunnicliffe 70')
Leeds United 0
Saturday's results
Brighton 1-1 Leicester City
Everton 1-0 Cardiff City
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Watford 0-3 Liverpool
West Ham United 0-4 Manchester City
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
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WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
