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| Egypt presidential election polling day - live updates | Egypt presidential election polling day - live updates |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 9.27am: Journalist Magdi Abdelhadi sounds a cautionary note about Egypt's presidential election. In an article for Comment is free, he says it's a game of the least bad option: | |
| Egyptians, having staged the first popular revolution in their history, are being asked not to choose the future but to choose between various versions of an imagined glorious past. | |
| This is hardly surprising. Nasserism (or pan-Arab nationalism) and Islamism represent the two political discourses that have dominated Egypt – and the so-called Arab world – for the past half a century or so. And, contrary to popular perception, they have more in common than meets the eye. | |
| If you take out God, their ideological deep structure is remarkably similar. Both cultivate an inflated sense of collective grandeur, stolen past glory, and whatever went wrong with the nation, it's always someone else's fault: the crusaders, the moguls, the colonial masters, the Americans, Israel, the Shias, the Persians. | |
| Alien notions such as individual freedom and human rights have recently made entry into their discourse. This is not so much the result of internal revisions but, thanks to the tireless work of the younger generation and local NGOs (some of which are, incidentally funded by the "infidel") and the ever-so-conspiring west. | |
| Such values have yet to translate into powerful grassroots movements or parties that can take on the pan-Arab-nationalist and Islamist dinosaurs. Find me a genuine liberal party in Egypt today and I will find you the proverbial needle in the haystack. | |
| 9.20am: Amr Moussa has joined a queue to vote at polling station in Cairo. | |
| Amr Moussa standing in line to cast his vote in Fatma Anan prep. school polling station, New Cairo. #EgyPresElex twitter.com/hany2m/status/… | |
| — Hany Rasmy (@hany2m) May 23, 2012 | |
| 9.15am: It looks as though ex-president Mubarak will not be voting, even though he has the right to do so. Unconvicted prisoners have to make a formal request, but it is unclear how they can actually vote if a request is granted, al-Masry al-Youm says, citing interior ministry sources. | |
| The sources added that former President Mubarak, who is detained in a medical centre, and 44 former regime officials, held in five different prisons, have all not applied to vote. The law allows detainees to vote as long as they have not been convicted. | |
| The sources said it is impossible for thousands of detainees to vote because voting requires polling stations, civil workers and judges to supervise the elections, particularly as prisoners number over 3,000 in different prisons in Cairo and 1,000 in Tora Prison. | |
| The sources said that the law gives detainees against whom no final judgment has been issued the right to vote by submitting a request to the prison administration, who will write a report about his or her legal situation and alert the Presidential Elections Commission. | |
| 9.10am: The Guardian's former Cairo correspondent Jack Shenker tweets this vignette showing hostility to a supporter of former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq: | |
| Man on metro starts booming about the greatness of Ahmed Shafiq as we pass through al-Shuhadaa' ('the martyrs') station (formerly 'Mubarak') | |
| — Jack Shenker (@hackneylad) May 23, 2012 | |
| Full-ruckus ensues, everyone's shouting and finger-jabbing. Some pro-Sabahi elder women look ready to smack the Shafiq-lover in the face | |
| — Jack Shenker (@hackneylad) May 23, 2012 | |
| 9.05am: "It feels like a very big day," says Ian Black in an audio update from Cairo. | |
| The preparations are being overseen fairly efficiently by the military. They are taking it [the elections] seriously, most people believe they don't want to hang on directly to power ... | |
| But there are big political and constitutional questions that need to be worked out, not least the powers of the new president ... | |
| There is a lot of stake, but a great sense of excitement. There's a headline in one newspaper al-Akhbar which says "Your Vote equals the future of Egypt". A dramatic tone is being struck on what looks like being a dramatic and exciting. | |
| Most people believe the poll will be fair, but there are lingering suspicions about electoral fraud. | |
| Ian says that Moussa and Abul Fotouh pass the Cairo taxi driver test as the candidates most likely to make it to a run off in June. But the race is still wide open, he says. And, whoever wins is going to have to get on with army, which will remain a powerful player whatever its formal constitutional position. | |
| 8.30am: Three foreign NGOs have been authorised to monitor the elections, including the Carter Center. Its founder Jimmy Carter was spotted at a polling station by al-Jazeera's Evan Hill. | 8.30am: Three foreign NGOs have been authorised to monitor the elections, including the Carter Center. Its founder Jimmy Carter was spotted at a polling station by al-Jazeera's Evan Hill. |
| Jimmy Carter arrives at this girl's school in Sayyida Zeinab. twitter.com/evanchill/stat… | Jimmy Carter arrives at this girl's school in Sayyida Zeinab. twitter.com/evanchill/stat… |
| — Evan Hill (@evanchill) May 23, 2012 | — Evan Hill (@evanchill) May 23, 2012 |
| 8.24am: Abdel-Rahman Hussein clears up some confusion about the number of candidates standing in the elections. | 8.24am: Abdel-Rahman Hussein clears up some confusion about the number of candidates standing in the elections. |
| Although there are 13 names on the ballot, two candidates have pulled out in favour of other candidates. Their names remain on the lists because they pulled out after the 10 May deadline. | Although there are 13 names on the ballot, two candidates have pulled out in favour of other candidates. Their names remain on the lists because they pulled out after the 10 May deadline. |
| 8.19am:(All times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Barring major developments elsewhere we will be focusing on Egypt's first ever free presidential elections today. "It is a genuinely historic moment," writes Ian Black in Cairo in a curtain-raiser to the poll. | 8.19am:(All times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Barring major developments elsewhere we will be focusing on Egypt's first ever free presidential elections today. "It is a genuinely historic moment," writes Ian Black in Cairo in a curtain-raiser to the poll. |
| It will be the first time, ever, that the Arab world's most populous country has chosen its leader without knowing in advance who the winner would be. | It will be the first time, ever, that the Arab world's most populous country has chosen its leader without knowing in advance who the winner would be. |
| We should be getting updates from Ian and Abdel-Rahman Hussein throughout the day. | We should be getting updates from Ian and Abdel-Rahman Hussein throughout the day. |
| Polling stations opened more than an hour ago and they will close at 8pm tonight, with further voting tomorrow. None of the candidates is expected to win the first round outright. A second round is planned for mid-June. | Polling stations opened more than an hour ago and they will close at 8pm tonight, with further voting tomorrow. None of the candidates is expected to win the first round outright. A second round is planned for mid-June. |
| There are five candidates that matter: | There are five candidates that matter: |
| • Amr Moussa | • Amr Moussa |
| The former foreign minister is still the frontrunner and chief "stability" candidate, is widely supported as a safe pair of hands. After decades of international diplomacy on behalf of Egypt and the Arab League he looks effortlessly presidential in dark suit and tie, surrounded by solicitous aides and guards. But, at 75, Moussa looks tired: he would be nearly 80 by the end of the one four-year term he has said he would serve. Critics say he is too centrist or too grey. | The former foreign minister is still the frontrunner and chief "stability" candidate, is widely supported as a safe pair of hands. After decades of international diplomacy on behalf of Egypt and the Arab League he looks effortlessly presidential in dark suit and tie, surrounded by solicitous aides and guards. But, at 75, Moussa looks tired: he would be nearly 80 by the end of the one four-year term he has said he would serve. Critics say he is too centrist or too grey. |
| • Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh | • Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh |
| An independent Islamist who broke away from the Muslim Brotherhood to run on his own. During his campaign he made much of an incident when as a student leader in the mid 1970s he publicly challenged President Anwar Sadat. His supporter range from liberals suspicious of any "regime remnants" to Salafists whose own candidate was disqualified. "He has become the Rorschach test of Egyptian politics," wrote Shadi Hamid in Foreign Policy. "Liberals think he's more liberal than he actually is. Conservatives hope he's more conservative." | An independent Islamist who broke away from the Muslim Brotherhood to run on his own. During his campaign he made much of an incident when as a student leader in the mid 1970s he publicly challenged President Anwar Sadat. His supporter range from liberals suspicious of any "regime remnants" to Salafists whose own candidate was disqualified. "He has become the Rorschach test of Egyptian politics," wrote Shadi Hamid in Foreign Policy. "Liberals think he's more liberal than he actually is. Conservatives hope he's more conservative." |
| • Mohammed Morsi | • Mohammed Morsi |
| The Muslim Brotherhood's official candidate has run an uninspiring campaign and is considered a poor stand-in for the charismatic but disqualified Khairat al-Shater, a wealthy businessman and senior Brother. The Brothers hope is that ideology and discipline will win out over personality. Some opinion polls suggested a bump in support for Morsi following his emphasis Islamic principles during his campaign. | The Muslim Brotherhood's official candidate has run an uninspiring campaign and is considered a poor stand-in for the charismatic but disqualified Khairat al-Shater, a wealthy businessman and senior Brother. The Brothers hope is that ideology and discipline will win out over personality. Some opinion polls suggested a bump in support for Morsi following his emphasis Islamic principles during his campaign. |
| • Ahmed Shafiq | • Ahmed Shafiq |
| Like Mubarak an ex-air force commander and an unapologetic opponent of the revolution who is openly anti-Islamist and scorned by opponents as a fuloul – a "remnant" of the old regime. Initially seen as an outsider, he has led in two recent polls and came a close second to Moussa in a third. Victory for him – unlikely but not impossible – could trigger serious unrest. | Like Mubarak an ex-air force commander and an unapologetic opponent of the revolution who is openly anti-Islamist and scorned by opponents as a fuloul – a "remnant" of the old regime. Initially seen as an outsider, he has led in two recent polls and came a close second to Moussa in a third. Victory for him – unlikely but not impossible – could trigger serious unrest. |
| • Hamdeen Sabahy | • Hamdeen Sabahy |
| Perceived as the alternative choice for those wishing to avoid voting for a candidate with an Islamist ideology but not affiliated with the Mubarak regime. His campaign has been poorly funded but he populist figure and came third among expat voters. He has support from Egyptian artists – worried about an impending Islamist crackdown on the arts – and Nasser-era Arab nationalists and leftists. Sabahy has tried position himself as the happy medium, taking the good facets of Nasser while leaving the bad – the cult of personality, the one-party system and centralisation of power. His copybook was blotted by his Arab nationalist tendencies, which saw him offer solidarity to notorious dictators such as Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gadafi, though his defenders say that he supported the people of Iraq and Libya against modern-day western imperialism. But his revolutionary credentials are beyond reproach. He broke through a police cordon on 25 January with supporters following suit and has a history of detention going back to the 1970s. | Perceived as the alternative choice for those wishing to avoid voting for a candidate with an Islamist ideology but not affiliated with the Mubarak regime. His campaign has been poorly funded but he populist figure and came third among expat voters. He has support from Egyptian artists – worried about an impending Islamist crackdown on the arts – and Nasser-era Arab nationalists and leftists. Sabahy has tried position himself as the happy medium, taking the good facets of Nasser while leaving the bad – the cult of personality, the one-party system and centralisation of power. His copybook was blotted by his Arab nationalist tendencies, which saw him offer solidarity to notorious dictators such as Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gadafi, though his defenders say that he supported the people of Iraq and Libya against modern-day western imperialism. But his revolutionary credentials are beyond reproach. He broke through a police cordon on 25 January with supporters following suit and has a history of detention going back to the 1970s. |