Today’s international press conference by the High Judicial Elections Commission for the upcoming presidential elections, in which it will announce the final time table for the polls, is a major news topic today. Al-Shorouk says the commission met earlier at its Garden City headquarters under the chairmanship of Farouk Sultan, the head of the high constitutional court. During the meeting, the commission agreed on various details for the elections procedures.
Al-Wafd leads with the press conference, writing that Sultan is expected to declare the dates for both the ballot and the runoff. It adds that 10 March is the date nominations will open.
Al-Shorouk writes that Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby has denied having any discussions with officials or parties concerning his presidential candidacy. Allegations have been made in the press that certain parties and the armed forces were discussing Araby as a candidate they could all agree to support. The paper says potential candidate Hazem Abu Ismail has said the effort to find a president for Egypt through consensus will produce a new version of Tunisian President Monsef al-Marzouky, who objected to the application of Islamic Sharia, which Ismail considered a “disgrace.”
According to Al-Shorouk, Araby also said he does not see the use of holding the presidential elections before the new constitution has been written, as the latter will determine the country’s political system.
Al-Shorouk also writes that Mohamed al-Masry, head of the Port Said Chamber of Commerce, blames the authorities for the slow investigation into the Port Said football violence, which took place on 1 February. Masry says the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the current government should pressure the prosecution to publish a report uncovering the details of the massacre. He claims the report by the fact-finding committee set up by Parliament is not enough to acquit Port Said citizens.
On a different note, state-owned Al-Ahram writes of the anticipation that awaits Parliament’s decision on where the former president should be held during the remainder of his trial — the hospital at Tora prison or the International Medical Center, where he is now. According to articles 1 and 2 of Law 35/1979, the paper points out, high-ranking soldiers who took part in the 6th of October War are to be honored.
Al-Wafd says Mubarak is to move to Tora prison within a few days when its intensive care unit has been renovated. Meanwhile, Suzanne Mubarak has apparently not visited her sons for the third week in a row, but Khadiga al-Gamal (accompanied by her uncle Mahmoud al-Gamal) and Heidy Rassekh have just visited their husbands Gamal and Alaa Mubarak in Tora Mazraa Prison, where they were moved last week.
Al-Ahram leads with the headline, “The International Monetary Fund to sign US$2.3 billion loan next month.” The newspaper says an IMF delegation will arrive in March to sign the papers that will enable Egypt to receive the loan. It will come in three payments: the first installment right after the signing, the second after three months and the third after a similar period of time.
Freedom and Justice, the mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party, leads with the headline, “Interior Ministry purged.” Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim has declared that various committees are being formed to restructure the ministry, adding that officers and soldiers have donated one day’s salary as a contribution to Egypt’s economy and a symbol of their love to their country. The article does not specify where these donations will go.
MP Farid Ismail, head of Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee and a Freedom and Justice Party member, agreed to the restructuring decision, according to the party paper. Ismail recently declared that a committee had been formed to question 805 Interior Ministry staff members who are allegedly implicated in crimes.
In the paper, Ismail also denied a “rumor” published by Al-Masry Al-Youm that FJP asked for an entire class of police graduates to be selected from the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood, saying Al-Masry Al-Youm’s article was a continuation of the newspaper’s policy of tarnishing the Brotherhood’s reputation.
Egypt's papers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run
Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Youm7: Daily, privately owned
Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned
Freedom and Justice: Daily, published by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party
Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Nasserist Party
Al-Nour: Official paper of the Salafi Nour Party
