Student source: University union elections cater only to Students for Egypt

The nomination process for this year’s student union elections at Egyptian universities began on Thursday.

Students have complained of what they described as "official intransigence,” procedural irregularities that they say aim to prevent candidates from running and provide the upper hand to Students for Egypt, a government-supported student group with a widespread presence across campuses.

A student leader told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that transgressions began when administrations at the youth welfare offices of Cairo and Ain Shams universities exclusively shared the elections timeline with Students for Egypt on Sunday last week, two days ahead of the official announcement on Tuesday evening.

Students attempting to submit their candidacy papers on the designated day later found the application window restricted to just five hours that overlapped with midterm exams at most faculties, the source said.

The obstacles didn’t stop there. At Ain Shams University, several youth welfare offices in different faculties also failed to notify students about the documents required for candidacy. Later, they cited “incomplete paperwork” as grounds to reject the submissions.

At Cairo University, students faced further challenges when trying to pay the required fees to complete their candidacy applications. The payment system went out of service throughout the application period, effectively preventing them from completing their registration. Meanwhile, youth welfare staff granted exclusive access to a Students for Egypt representative, enabling them to process fees and finalize candidacies for the group’s members, bypassing the public portal used by other students.

Similar practices were reported at Zagazig, Mansoura, and Alexandria universities, where youth welfare staff refused to provide nomination forms to independent candidates and members of other student groups unaffiliated with Students for Egypt.