“The revelation that the state had a hand in creating this [the For the Love of Egypt electoral] list did not come as a surprise to many. In the months leading up to the elections, the media had hinted and then explicitly accused unnamed ‘sovereign’ state agencies of interfering in politics, and seeking to shape the first parliament in Sisi’s tenure by throwing their weight behind certain candidates. But the bombshell testimony from one of the people involved in the creation of the FLE was the first public confirmation of the direct role played by the president’s office and General Intelligence -- a role that went beyond simply backing selected candidates to build a state-sponsored electoral list. After publishing his statement, Abdel Azim declined to be interviewed, but his testimony encouraged others to recount what they had seen in the run-up to the elections in November and December 2015. Mada Masr spoke with some of them over the last few months. Most of them agreed to tell their stories on condition of anonymity. Together, they offer a portrait of the painstaking, sometimes bumpy process of constructing a parliament loyal to the current president.”
“Anatomy of an election” (Hossam Bahgat, Mada Masr)
“The revelation that the state had a hand in creating this [the For the Love of Egypt electoral] list did not come as a surprise to many. In the months leading up to the elections, the media had hinted and then explicitly accused unnamed ‘sovereign’ state agencies of interfering in politics, and seeking to shape the first parliament in Sisi’s tenure by throwing their weight behind certain candidates. But the bombshell testimony from one of the people involved in the creation of the FLE was the first public confirmation of the direct role played by the president’s office and General Intelligence -- a role that went beyond simply backing selected candidates to build a state-sponsored electoral list. After publishing his statement, Abdel Azim declined to be interviewed, but his testimony encouraged others to recount what they had seen in the run-up to the elections in November and December 2015. Mada Masr spoke with some of them over the last few months. Most of them agreed to tell their stories on condition of anonymity. Together, they offer a portrait of the painstaking, sometimes bumpy process of constructing a parliament loyal to the current president.”
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