Independent newspaper Al-Shorouk leads Thursday morning with the results of its own poll for the upcoming presidential election. Former Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh is expected to win the first round, but would be defeated by experienced diplomat Amr Moussa in the runoff election, according to the poll, which has 33.6 percent of voters still undecided.
Former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq is expected to take third place in the first round by a small margin behind Moussa, and Nasserist candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi is expected to follow in fourth. The survey also has Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsy failing to win over party supporters; he is projected to get votes from only 10 percent of those who cast ballots for Freedom and Justice Party candidates in the parliamentary elections. The paper does not specify how it came up with that figure, but projects that Abouel Fotouh will gain the support of a quarter of FJP supporters from the parliamentary elections.
When asked what would be the most pressing issue for the next president, 37.9 percent said security, 9.3 percent said the economy, 7.9 percent said education and 4.8 percent said stability.
Sources close to disqualified Salafi candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail said he plans on declaring a new movement similar to the Muslim Brotherhood or Salafi Dawah. The sources added that Abu Ismail wants to inspire hope among his followers after they were driven from a sit-in protest last week in Abbasseya, Al-Shorouk reports.
Privately owned Al-Dostour runs the headline: “Abouel Fotouh's personal ambitions.” According to the paper, he began his career in Jama'a al-Islamiya, then moved to the Muslim Brotherhood. Failing to rise to the head of either group, he decided to run for president, says the report. The newspaper adds that the candidate has no local or international experience that would enable him to lead a strategic country like Egypt, and that his knowledge of politics and democracy has only been sharpened since he joined the presidential race.
The newspaper also reports on an unexpected surprise in the trial over the February football violence in Port Said. Egypt’s chief coroner said in court that none of the deceased had sustained gunshot wounds. During the four-hour testimony, the chief coroner and his assistant told the judge they only conducted an autopsy on one corpse, as most families refused to allow autopsies on their deceased relatives.
State owned Al-Ahram leads with a report saying an administrative court believes the Presidential Elections Commission overstepped its bounds by referring the Political Isolation Law to constitutional court for review. The law strips top officials who served under former President Hosni Mubarak or at the helm of the now-disbanded National Democratic Party of political rights for 10 years, and has prompted much controversy in relation to former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq's campaign.
The party-run Freedom and Justice newspaper leads Tuesday with: “Ahmed Shafiq … ineffective.” According to the report that follows, Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsy said he wants to bring 20 million tourists to Egypt over the course of the next four years. Morsy added that tourism is the FJP’s main concern, as it will be a major factor in repairing the Egyptian economy.
The FJP mouthpiece writes that Islamic scholar Mohamed Emara and Salafi Sheikh Fawzy Saeed support Morsy in the election and that Saeed said the well-being of the Islamic project is in Morsy’s hands.
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Watan: Daily, privately owned
