US embassy cable - 05CAIRO8191

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 008191 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y  (ADDED MARKINGS FOR PARA. 4 AND 5) 
 
NSC STAFF FOR POUNDS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KDEM, EG, IS, KRAL, Parliamentary Elections 
SUBJECT: TRANSPARENCY WITH A SMILE: GOE MEDIA AND ELECTIONS 
 
 
Classified By: HMahoney, 1.4b 
 
 1. (C)  In an Oct. 24 meeting with the Ambassador, 
Information Minister Anas al Fekki did his part to make the 
GOE's plans for the November Parliamentary elections look 
transparent and fair.  The approach may in fact lead to gains 
for transparency and freedom, in both politics and the 
GOE-dominated broadcast media. Al Fekki's plan gives airtime 
to opposition and independent candidates, allows media and 
civil society activists to tour the polls, and informs voters 
about voting procedures during the Nov. 27-Dec. 7 
Parliamentary campaign,  To kick it off, the normally media 
shy Interior Minister will appear on TV on Oct. 25 to 
announce see-through ballot boxes. "And he will smile," al 
Fekki said.  The liberal look at election time is the first 
step in what the Minister describes as a strategy to 
privatize large chunks of Egypt's government-controlled TV. 
 End Summary. 
 
Free Airtime --Even for the MB 
 
2. (C)  Following appearances on popular TV talk shows by the 
Interior Minister and Al Fekki himself, candidates from the 
ruling party and the opposition plus independents will all 
have their say on the air.  National TV will run daily panel 
discussions, in which groups of four or five rival party 
leaders will debate each other and be questioned by 
journalists on foreign policy, human rights, health care and 
other issues.  As for the hundreds of independents, they will 
have five minutes each on one of the six regional channels 
plus follow up time for those who do well in the run-off 
vote.  This includes Muslim Brothers running as independents, 
al Fikki noted, though neither parties nor candidates would 
be allowed to run their slogans; the MB's "Islam is the 
solution"  will not appear on the screen, he said.  (Al Fekki 
expected the MB to win a million out of 14-15 million votes 
and get 40 to 50 Parliamentary seats --a result which the GOE 
can live with, according to the Minister.) 
 
Informing the Voters 
 
3. (U) Thanking USAID for the offer to finance 
voter-education, Al Fekki stressed that the GOE would accept 
informal advice but could not be seen to be following U.S. 
directives and would pay for its own information campaign. 
The State Information Service (SIS) will run its website and 
insert fillers detailing how to vote into Al Ahram, Egypt's 
most widely circulated, and government-owned, daily.  SIS 
will also maintain a media center at the downtown Nile Hilton 
where local and foreign journalists and NGOs can obtain lists 
of polling stations and other information. The Interior 
Ministry will publish voter lists and poll locations, and SIS 
will ensure that this information is widely distributed. 
 
Access to the Polls 
 
4. (C)  According to Al Fekki, the Justice Minister will soon 
announce that local civil society organizations and the media 
will receive passes from the SIS enabling them to enter the 
polls  on election day.  (Post is checking the precise 
details.  Egypt's government-owned Middle East News Agency 
(MENA) cited Justice Minister Abuleil as stating that local 
civic groups approved by a government-backed human rights 
council may monitor every stage up to the vote-count.) 
 
Freer, More Private Airwaves 
 
5. (C)  In his long-term campaign to free Egyptian TV from the 
government's grip, Al Fekky outlined a plan, which the Prime 
Minister wants finalized in six to eight weeks.  The Minister 
says he intends to privatize selected satellite channels and 
allow private and foreign franchising of terrestrial TV, 
which is widely watched by Egyptians too poor for a satellite 
dish.  Pointing to state TV's one billion dollar deficit, the 
Minister said he wants to sell the Nilesat thematic channels 
that feature drama, culture and education to Egyptian or 
foreign interests and allow up to 100 percent private, though 
not foreign, ownership of the terrestial TV.  New digital 
technology will expand the terrestials within 18 months from 
the current two channels to six.  For the time being however, 
news channels would be excepted from privatization. 
 
The private stations and most of the state TV's facilities 
would go into the government's Media City on Cairo's 
outskirts, which has ample room for new studios and broadcast 
facilities.  The Minister mentioned that he would welcome a 
USAID-financed consultant to design a master plan for the 
overhaul of Egypt's airwaves, to include an FCC-like 
regulatory body.