Egypt's Freedom and Justice Party woos voters with balloons, medicine and smiles.
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Egypt's Freedom and Justice Party woos voters with balloons, medicine and smiles. (Photo: Al-Masry Al-Youm)
Mostafa Mahmoud Square in the Giza neighborhood of Mohandiseen was home to what felt like a street carnival on a recent afternoon. A few days before parliamentary elections began in Giza Governorate, hundreds ― whole families and people of all ages ― gathered, singing. Large balloons provided a festive touch.
But there was more to the scene than just cotton candy and sing-alongs. Hundreds were also spread out in the nearby streets, smiling widely and handing out fliers to passersby.
This was one of the daily campaign events that the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), has been holding all over Egypt in an effort to dominate the ongoing parliamentary elections. So far, the FJP has succeeded: In the first phase of People's Assembly elections at the end of November, the Islamist party took nearly 40 percent of the vote. And in the second phase, taking place on 14 and 15 December, they appear poised to do just as well.
Benefiting from its long history of street presence, the FJP has devised a campaign strategy that uses a variety of tactics specifically tailored to the inhabitants of individual neighborhoods.
FJP campaigners say that while the party’s broad campaign strategies are centrally determined, local organizers choose what they think will work best in their own areas.
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