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Tomatoes beat manifestos in Egypt election race
Source: Agencies |
October 28, 2010, Thursday
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TRUCKS of cheap tomatoes covered in posters of ruling party candidate Abdel Ghani Gamal wind through a Cairo slum, showing what most Egyptians fret about as informal campaigning starts for next month's parliamentary poll.
With food inflation a dizzying 22 percent and tomato prices spiking to 10-12 Egyptian pounds (US$1.73-2.08) per kilo, double or triple their price a few months ago, Gamal has no doubt what will be a vote winner in the grimy Bulaq Aboulela neighbourhood.
"We in the National Democratic Party (NDP) are making an election campaign to benefit the people. We found prices of tomatoes had increased so we decided to provide them to the people at lower prices," Gamal said.
As President Hosni Mubarak, 82, approaches 30 years in power, opposition groups are calling for political reform, but most ordinary Egyptians seem more concerned with prices of food -- an issue that caused unrest in 2008.
Some residents trot behind the truck as campaign workers hand them kilogram bags of tomatoes for 3.50 pounds each.
Official campaigning does not start till earlier November. An election commission said the opposition Wafd party could not air advertisements till then. But that has not stopped some ruling party candidates like Gamal drumming up votes.
Gamal says easing the burden of high food prices will more like win him a seat than any number of campaign leaflets.
Not everyone is convinced by the tactic, which candidates for Mubarak's NDP have copied before the Nov. 28 vote.
"I will not vote for any candidate regardless of what he does because I know he is only doing this to take my vote, but after he wins I will not see him again," said Ahmed Aboul-Nage, a coffee shop waiter.
Government critics say the rules of Egyptian politics must change to give anyone outside the NDP a fair chance. But calls to protest against the system rarely rally more than a few hundred, and are swiftly quashed by security forces.
'BUYING PEOPLE'S VOTES'
Food prices and subsidies are a different matter. The 2008 violence erupted as surging global commodity prices pushed up the cost of basic foods and led to subsidised bread shortages.
Caught off guard, the authorities initially responded by a tough security clampdown and then promised to hike some salaries 30 percent. After global commodity prices climbed again this year, ministers were quick to reassure Egyptians about supplies.
But analysts say the government has been slow to solve supply bottlenecks, partly caused by a broad subsidy system. The authorities are wary of tampering with subsidies although they are starting a more targetted electronic allocation system.
"The government is not making policies to treat problems resulting from scarcity of certain products. Instead, its members are using the situation to buy the people's votes," said political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah.
Many Egyptians complain that economic liberalisation since 2004, which has driven up growth now at more than 5 percent and won international praise, has not filtered down to the poorest.
But such complaints have not stopped ruling party candidates seeking to turn the price rises to their advantage.
The NDP has yet to publish its manifesto for the Nov. 28 vote. That will be launched at a conference opening on Nov. 9. But comments by officials in recent weeks and months have suggested price concerns are a priority.
The NDP is expecting to dominate the race, with the usual cries of foul by the opposition and rights groups. But the vote is still being watched to see how much space the authorities give the opposition ahead of the 2011 presidential race, when all eyes be on whether Mubarak chooses to seek re-election.
With food inflation a dizzying 22 percent and tomato prices spiking to 10-12 Egyptian pounds (US$1.73-2.08) per kilo, double or triple their price a few months ago, Gamal has no doubt what will be a vote winner in the grimy Bulaq Aboulela neighbourhood.
"We in the National Democratic Party (NDP) are making an election campaign to benefit the people. We found prices of tomatoes had increased so we decided to provide them to the people at lower prices," Gamal said.
As President Hosni Mubarak, 82, approaches 30 years in power, opposition groups are calling for political reform, but most ordinary Egyptians seem more concerned with prices of food -- an issue that caused unrest in 2008.
Some residents trot behind the truck as campaign workers hand them kilogram bags of tomatoes for 3.50 pounds each.
Official campaigning does not start till earlier November. An election commission said the opposition Wafd party could not air advertisements till then. But that has not stopped some ruling party candidates like Gamal drumming up votes.
Gamal says easing the burden of high food prices will more like win him a seat than any number of campaign leaflets.
Not everyone is convinced by the tactic, which candidates for Mubarak's NDP have copied before the Nov. 28 vote.
"I will not vote for any candidate regardless of what he does because I know he is only doing this to take my vote, but after he wins I will not see him again," said Ahmed Aboul-Nage, a coffee shop waiter.
Government critics say the rules of Egyptian politics must change to give anyone outside the NDP a fair chance. But calls to protest against the system rarely rally more than a few hundred, and are swiftly quashed by security forces.
'BUYING PEOPLE'S VOTES'
Food prices and subsidies are a different matter. The 2008 violence erupted as surging global commodity prices pushed up the cost of basic foods and led to subsidised bread shortages.
Caught off guard, the authorities initially responded by a tough security clampdown and then promised to hike some salaries 30 percent. After global commodity prices climbed again this year, ministers were quick to reassure Egyptians about supplies.
But analysts say the government has been slow to solve supply bottlenecks, partly caused by a broad subsidy system. The authorities are wary of tampering with subsidies although they are starting a more targetted electronic allocation system.
"The government is not making policies to treat problems resulting from scarcity of certain products. Instead, its members are using the situation to buy the people's votes," said political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah.
Many Egyptians complain that economic liberalisation since 2004, which has driven up growth now at more than 5 percent and won international praise, has not filtered down to the poorest.
But such complaints have not stopped ruling party candidates seeking to turn the price rises to their advantage.
The NDP has yet to publish its manifesto for the Nov. 28 vote. That will be launched at a conference opening on Nov. 9. But comments by officials in recent weeks and months have suggested price concerns are a priority.
The NDP is expecting to dominate the race, with the usual cries of foul by the opposition and rights groups. But the vote is still being watched to see how much space the authorities give the opposition ahead of the 2011 presidential race, when all eyes be on whether Mubarak chooses to seek re-election.
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