After independents and opposition groups registered surprising victories against the veteran Muslim Brotherhood student movement, Egypt's Student Union elections are close to being held but in light of a reportedly flawed electoral system, according to critics. The post of Egypt's Student Union president witnessed stiff competition between the students from various political affiliations, especially Islamists and liberated parties, during the electoral process held on Tuesday 23 April. As Al-Ahram Weekly went to print, the elections were still ongoing. The elections were due to take place on Tuesday 9 April, but were postponed amid disagreement between Muslim Brotherhood and non-Islamist students over the methods to be used. While non-Islamist students wanted to use the 50 per cent plus one process by which the election can only be won by a party or candidate gaining over 50 per cent of the vote, the Muslim Brotherhood student movement, on the other hand, wanted the winner to be decided by a simple majority vote. Consequently, the issue was referred to the Shura Council's legislative committee that recommended the majority process. Three main candidates were contesting the elections: Mohamed Badran, head of Benha Students Union and Islam Fawzi, president of Helwan Students Union, are both of the independent front affiliated with the secular political currents, and from the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Mounir. Sohaib Abdel-Maksoud, the official spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood student movement, said that due to the state council's delayed response, the issue was referred to the Shura Council's legislative committee for the council to give its opinion regarding the proper electoral process. In a statement, the Muslim Brotherhood students said: “Just before the start of voting, students were surprised by the Ministry of Higher Education advisers — who supervise the electoral process — declaring that the vote will be adopting the 50 per cent plus one elections system, which is a clear violation of the terms of Student Regulations, since multi-staged elections were held on the level of heads of unions in all universities, adopting the majority system.” The statement added, “while Brotherhood students demanded commitment to regulations and enforcement of relevant laws, Ministry of Higher Education advisers violated the regulations yet again and demanded the students should attend an unofficial meeting to resolve the crisis — that would not exist if everyone abided by the law and the terms of student regulations. “For the sake of upholding the rule of law, advocated by the 25 January Revolution, and so that the electoral process would not be legally flawed, we call on all parties to commit to the application of the provisions of student regulations drafted by Egyptian university students.” The two-year-old Egypt Student Union was formed after the 25 January Revolution to unite student unions of universities across Egypt. The union was dominated by a Brotherhood majority last year. However, recent Student Union elections at universities around Egypt saw a noticeable decline in the Muslim Brotherhood's popularity in comparison to last year. Muslim Brotherhood members are still ahead in the race with 18 seats, or 55 per cent of heads and deputy heads of university student unions, getting their hopes up to preserve the post of Egypt's Student Union president despite the decline in their popularity. Regarding the electoral method, president of Helwan University's Student Union Fawzi believes independent student participation was a reaction to the Brotherhood domination in previous elections. “We witnessed what happened during the drafting of the new bylaws last year. Our participation is a reaction to the flawed drafting process that favoured one political group,” Fawzi says. “We intend to amend the bylaws through a democratic process, and we will show the student community that we will change the bylaws to suit their interests, not our own.” However, Fawzi believes the process will always be politicised, no matter how many electoral laws are amended, saying, “politics are an essential part of student life.” “We are in post-revolution Egypt. Elections in Egypt, wherever we are, will be controlled by politics. We cannot avoid this.” One of the most important reasons behind the fierce competition in the electoral process for Egypt's Student Union between the Islamists and non-Islamists is that the post's winner will represent Egypt's students in the House of Representatives and the Shura Council as well as the Supreme Council of Universities. The electoral process is divided into five stages, in which university students elect their representatives directly in the first stage. Afterwards, the rest is decided through political and partisan deals. In the first stage, students from each academic year elect committee members within their year and faculty. This is the only time when students are entitled to directly elect their representatives. In the second stage, these committee members elect a secretary-general and deputy secretary for their committee. The same applies to all years and faculties. In the third stage the elected leaders of the committees elect the secretary-general and deputy secretary for the entire faculty's Student Union. In the fourth stage, the secretary-general and deputy secretary of the university's faculties elect committees for the university-wide Student Union. In turn they elect the secretary-general and deputy secretary of the university's Student Union. Those elected in the fifth stage automatically form the nationwide Egyptian Student Union, which includes figures from the state and Al-Azhar University.
