- EGYPT
- March 6, 2012
- 6 minutes read
60% Of Egyptians Undecided on Favorite Presidency Candidate
A survey conducted by the «Freedom and Justice» newspaper polled a semi-representative sample of more than 500 Egyptian citizens in 18 provinces. This revealed that about 60% of the respondents were still undecided about the election of a particular person for President of the Republic. Meanwhile, some 40% of the polled sample had already settled on a favorite candidate for the presidency.
The survey, which included the governorates: Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Dakahlia, Fayoum, Ismailia, Beheira, Assiut, Luxor, Red Sea, Sohaj, Menoufia, Sharqiya and Gharbiya, Minya, Beni Suef and Aswan, showed that the majority of voters (60%) did not select a candidate as yet, and that 29% of those polled believed that some already known candidates deserve support, but they do not want to rush in making their decision, just in case the coming days witness some better-loved public figures nominating themselves, who may prove more popular and worthy of support than all the current candidates. Further, about a quarter of this sample (almost 24%) believe there is more than one well-accomplished candidate on the scene, and feel somewhat befuddled, and so they have not made up their minds yet.
On the other hand, about a fifth of the polled sample (20%) consider none of the current candidates worthy of becoming the next president of Egypt, and therefore they prefer to wait until a suitable candidate emerges.
The total of undecided respondents above (73% of the sample) indicate that the final decision depends on the personal characteristics of the candidates, which means that a presidential hopeful will have to persuade most of the population with his personality and good character.
About 21% of respondents stated that a candidate’s election program is the most important factor in their choice of a presidential contender, which is not clear in the electoral arena so far for all potential candidates. This means more cautions in judging programs and ideas of all candidates running for high office. The remaining 6% in this sample of respondents is divided into two parts – which together represent the voting bloc which have not yet chosen a candidate – and these are affiliated to or supporters of one of two political orientations (Islamic or liberal); and their choice of presidential candidate depends on the position of political entities they follow.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Dr. Saeed Sadek – Professor of Political Sociology at the American University in Cairo – said that there is considerable uncertainty in the process of upcoming Egyptian presidential elections, with announcement of elections schedule delayed until last Wednesday, which – according to Sadek – caused 60% of the people to be so far undecided. Sadek though that a percentage of the 40% that have already decided on a particular presidential candidate, have actually chosen a candidate from «remnants» or cronies and chums of the former defunct regime, those represent the so-called «Couch Party», who are not interested in public affairs, never took part in the revolution, and would most likely vote for a former regime figure.
Dr. Sadek explained, "Those are still affiliated to the culture of tyranny and injustice, and would not want risk no changes, and certainly no president from outside of the circles of the former regime. But this will not happen. The proof is the loss sustained by remnants of the dissolved National Party figures and the parties that they founded. They did suffer a severe defeat in the recent parliamentary elections.
Sadek attributed the 29% segment – which awaits the possibility of an even better presidential candidate in the next few days – to the large number of potential contenders who have the support of various sectors of the community, as well as the emergence of many candidates affiliated with the remnants and the military in the past few days, especially as they are not known to the people and want to reproduce the former regime, which has provoked and angered the revolutionaries.
As for the 24% segment which is somewhat confused choosing their candidate for president, Sadek thinks the confusion is caused by the presence of several presidential hopefuls worthy of the support of this segment, or because no suitable contender has officially been nominated so far, which makes some people more careful, until the position of all candidates is formally announced, especially as some candidates often withdraw at the last minute of the race in support of another candidate, in addition to the appearance of some candidates in satellite TV talk-shows, which weakens their chances of electoral competition, with time.
