Abdel Rehim Ali cursed Amr el-Shobaki on TV and accused others of treason.
Mortada Mansour threatened Lamis El-Hadidy, and his son threatened to crash everybody else.
It seems insolence is the motto of this election and the weapon to win a seat in Parliament.
Should all this overt defamation pass unnoticed? Who is protecting those candidates? Is it the parliamentary immunity that they would enjoy if they win? Is threat, intimidation, slander, libel and the settling of scores with the January Revolution what they are competing for, or are they competing for parliamentary seats? Is the objective to represent the people in Parliament or are they only seeking immunity? Is it really immunity that protects them or is it something else? What media is that which opens its space for verbal abuse and slander? How could the media be involved in the elections in the first place? The role of the media anywhere else in the world is to neutrally encourage people to participate in the elections, not to favor certain candidates over others.
The worse thing is that they will use the media to achieve their personal interests once they enter Parliament. These practices will unfortunately lead to more defamation of people and accusations of treason, not only in the media, but inside Parliament itself.
This is not political competition. It is political struggle.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
