Campaign supporters assaulted at Shubra polling stations, electoral candidates say

Two candidates running for parliamentary election in the Shubra constituency reported incidents of physical violence on Tuesday, perpetrated against their team members and supporters by “thugs” in front of polling stations.

The incidents join the hundreds of reports of electoral infractions including voter bribery and coercion on show in this year’s parliamentary elections, many of which were on behalf of candidates representing the security agency-backed, majority-holding Nation’s Future Party.

The infractions have drawn substantial public attention and even elicited comment from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with the National Elections Authority (NEA) subsequently annulling the results and ordering reruns in a quarter of the phase-one districts.

Monica Magdy, a former MP for the constituency of Shubra, Rod al-Farag and Bulaq Abul Ela who is running for re-election for the Reform and Renaissance Party said on Tuesday morning that another candidate in the constituency had deployed groups of women to act as “thugs.” She said they had physically assaulted several of her representatives and supporters across polling stations, and attempted to assault her too. 

Magdy is running for reelection in the central Cairo constituency against Nation Future’s Party candidate Mohamed Rady, Ghad Party’s Marianne Shokry and independent candidate Mohamed Ghazy.

Shortly after, Magdy called on authorities to take the necessary steps to regulate the elections and counteract violations, speaking on a Facebook livestream outside the Ebn Suleih polling station in Shubra. 

She described a group of people as nothing but “decorations” who received money to stand in front of the polling station, adding that the same group also accused her of paying voters money. 

Similar “decorative” crowds have been visible at many polling stations, particularly groups of dozens of young people. Mada Masr correspondents touring polling stations on Monday observed that none of these young people were voting, but were rather being instructed to pose for pictures outside the stations by station officials and staff. 

Mada Masr also observed advertisements circulated by a casting director on Whatsapp in the lead-up to the second phase, recruiting young people in “casual attire” to attend the vote in exchange for payment of LE500 and a free meal. 

In her videos, Magdy said she and several of her supporters were being targeted for documenting the violations taking place at the polling stations she toured.

Magdy also accused another candidate for the same constituency, who she did not name, of using “political money” to secure his success in the elections. The widespread use of “political money” — a polite term for electoral bribery — has inflamed public opinion over the past few weeks. 

The term does not only include paying people for their votes but was also mentioned by several politicians who found themselves unable to run for the ongoing parliamentary elections after being asked to pay millions of pounds to secure their seats.

“One candidate’s use of ‘political money’ will not be successful, and I will fight until the last second,” Magdy stressed. 

Shortly afterward, she published a video saying that all issues around the constituency’s polling stations were on their way to being resolved and that “things are safe,” calling on people to go to the polls. 

The Reform and Renaissance Party condemned the assault of members of Magdy’s family and electoral campaign in a statement later on Tuesday. The party also added that its legal committee took all relevant legal measures. 

From her side, Shoukry also said on Tuesday evening that several members of her electoral campaign were arrested in front of the Sayeda school and were taken to Rod al-Farag Police Station.

She explained that four of her campaign members, including its legal advisor, were dragged out of their cars and physically assaulted by body guards who she said worked with “the other candidate.” Police intervened and arrested her campaign members, Shoukry said, while the aggressors were spared arrest despite inciting the incident.

Shoukry’s campaign member, Andrew Thabet, told Mada Masr that a defense lawyer has been appointed for the four arrested members. 

Shoukry added that the arrest of her campaign members comes a day after she issued a police report on the many violations that took place at the constituency’s Qawmeya school on Monday.

Calling on the NEA, the Interior Ministry, the Lawyers Syndicate and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to preserve the “integrity of the elections,” the candidate stressed the many violations she saw in the elections process over the past days.

“There’s a lot of fraud, a lot of violations, and on top of all that, we’re being beaten up.”