Student elections conclude at most Egyptian universities

Egypt Student

After weeks of campaigning and elections, student union elections in most Egyptian state universities concluded last week, with independent candidates winning the majority of seats at 22 universities, followed by Muslim Brotherhood candidates.

Semi-final results show independent candidates winning presidential seats at 10 universities and vice presidential seats at nine universities, with Muslim Brotherhood candidates taking presidential seats at nine universities and vice presidential ones at eight universities.

The remaining top seats were clinched by students affiliated with Al-Dustour Party, Masr al-Qaweya Party, the Salafi trend and Sonaa al-Hayat group.

Elections have yet to be held in a 23rd university in Port Said due to recent unrest in the city, but are expected to take place in early April, according to the Ministry of Higher Education.

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, which monitored the elections, said the voting process went smoothly at most universities. The election process and announcement of results was carried out in a legal, transparent and public manner, it said.

High voter turnout

The Association reported a 70% voter turnout at some universities, “a development that has never before been witnessed by student unions”.

Student elections took place on five levels: for faculty union committee membership; for trustees and their assistants on faculty union committees; for president and vice president of faculty unions; for trustees and assistants of university unions; and for presidents and vice presidents of university unions.

Members of the executive office of the General Union of Students in Egypt will be elected after the student union elections in Port Said.

Mirroring Egyptian political scene

Although student unions in Egypt are primarily service-based, they have long been political platforms, researchers and party officials told Al-Shorfa. This was the case during the rule of presidents Jamal Abdul Nasser, Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak, and it was no different this year where most political forces competed to win seats in the unions.

In the past three decades, the Muslim Brotherhood dominated student unions, said Yousri al-Azbawi, a researcher at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. This year, the Association documented a decline in the popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood in the elections.

Liberal and leftist movements formed electoral alliances to challenge Brotherhood candidates, the Association said, and in some cases, these movements forged alliances with independent candidates, who won the majority of seats.

“The significant change in voting trends for students, as they turn away from the Muslim Brotherhood and vote for other parties and independent candidates, shows their desire for universities to be independent of the government,” al-Azbawi told Al-Shorfa.

This is not only an expression of “the declining popularity of the Brotherhood and the rise of the opposition” but rather an indication that most students would like their universities to be distanced from political polarization and focused on serving the student experience, he said.

Campaigns ‘focused on services’

Mohammed Ayoub, a co-ordinator with Al-Dustour Party at Cairo University, said the election campaigns this year focused on services students want.

There is a general feeling among students that unions should return to their main task, he said — providing the necessary services on campus to support academic life.

“Thousands of Egyptian students want their universities to have a union that fights for their rights and helps them develop their research capabilities, as well as create opportunities for foreign exchange programmes so as to broaden students’ horizons, instead of using the union to promote a particular party or political faction and to attract more supporters,” he said.

Mahmoud Saeed, an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood at Ain Shams University, said the most important thing for him is that the student union be a platform that gives voice to all ideas so it can ultimately realise the aspirations of all students.

In the end, it is in everyone’s interest to create a strong union that expresses the voice and opinions of students in the learning process, Saeed said.

Rami Abdullah, an independent student who won a seat in Cairo University’s student union elections, told Al-Shorfa all union members should take off their “political garb” and work towards planning and providing more services and activities.

“The independents have succeeded in these elections because students felt we can treat everyone equally and move freely without any party or ideological constraints,” he said.