ALEXANDRIA: NDP, WAFD FOCUS ON SOCIAL SERVICES TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 001975 SIPDIS FOR NEA/ELA AND DRL/NESCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/18/2029 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM EG SUBJECT: ALEXANDRIA: NDP, WAFD FOCUS ON SOCIAL SERVICES TO COUNTER MB REF: A. CAIRO 1493 ¶B. CAIRO 1467 ¶C. CAIRO 1393 Classified By: Economic-Political Minister-Counselor Donald A. Blome for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. KEY POINTS -- (C) In advance of the 2010/2011 elections, the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) is working in Alexandria in cooperation with NGOs to improve the city's infrastructure and education. -- (C) NDP-linked and independent NGOs are working in poor areas to provide social services and information on moderate Islam to counter Muslim Brotherhood (MB) influence. -- (C) The opposition secular, liberal Wafd party will focus its 2010 election strategy on HEALTH care and employment, and is optimistic about its chances in Alexandria, due mostly to the MB's weakened position. -- (C) In contrast to the NDP and Wafd focus on services, the opposition El-Ghad party is building an anti-succession coalition with the MB and others. ¶2. (C) Comment: In advance of the upcoming elections, the NDP in Alexandria appears focused on trying to supplant the MB's traditional strength of appealing to the masses by providing social services. Such a strategy seems to be in concert with the GOE's actions over the past 4-5 months to limit to the MB's ability to function as a political and social service organization (reftels). The opposition Wafd party is focusing its election campaign on the promise of improved social services, and with the MB weakened, it is hoping to win the anti-regime vote. In contrast, the opposition El-Ghad party is pursuing an election strategy of working with the MB to criticize the GOE. End comment. -------------- NDP Focus on Providing Services -------------- ¶3. (C) On September 30 in Alexandria, member of the NDP policies committee and Alexandria Local Council Chairman Mohammed Sabry said the NDP is focusing on infrastructure, health and social projects in advance of the 2010 elections. He said the NDP-led Local Council is working on a new sewage system for the historic Montaza district, fixing the city's roads, improving school curricula, and fighting corruption. As an example, he said the Local Council is investigating cases of building contractors who have extorted payments from residents by threatening to report them for zoning and other violations. As Local Council Chairman, he coordinates with NGOs on projects such as street cleaning and urban renewal. ¶4. (C) Sabry expected Presidential son and NDP Assistant Secretary-General Gamal Mubarak to increase his efforts to promote economic and political reform. Sabry said he wants the U.S. to be comfortable with Gamal as Egypt's next leader. We underscored that such a question is for the Egyptian people, not the U.S., to decide. Sabry asserted that the NDP is interested in secular opposition parties such as El-Ghad and the Democratic Front Party becoming stronger in order to be credible alternatives to the MB. He asserted that if these secular parties increased their power through elections, "so be it." (Note: Sabry plans to run in internal NDP elections to be an NDP candidate for the 2010 People's Assembly elections in an Alexandria district. End note.) ¶5. (SBU) Leaders of the El-Sa'ada Charity, an NGO linked to the NDP, described their activities on increasing educational opportunities for teenagers from schools in the nearby countryside. The NGO has established a three-year vocational training program for teenagers who have failed out of school, and works with parents and religious leaders to encourage the children of widowed mothers to take vocational training instead of immediately working to support their families. The NGO also provides clothing for the needy and helps young married couples buy apartment furniture. The director of the group's women's programs Ola Bishr told us she holds weekly discussions to introduce women to moderate Islamic thinking, as an alternative to MB ideology. Bishr said this aim is not only to support the NDP, but to benefit the country. -------------- --- Wafd Planning Service-Oriented Election Campaign -------------- --- CAIRO 00001975 002 OF 002 ¶6. (C) Wafd Party Assistant Secretary Ihab Zaghloul said the party has a pragmatic campaign plan for 2010 that emphasizes improved HEALTH care, increased employment, and privatization to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises. (Note: The Wafd is a secular, liberal, nationalistic opposition party established originally at the end of World War I. End note.) Zaghloul was optimistic about the Wafd's 2010 People's Assembly (PA) election prospects, saying that GOE arrests of the MB (refs A,B) would take that organization out of the political picture in Alexandria. He added that the GOE "even shut down" an MB-run camp for children in Alexandria this past summer. He expected the Wafd to be competitive enough to force run-offs with NDP candidates. He predicted that Alexandria's penchant for supporting opposition candidates, evidenced by Ayman Nour's 2005 victory in the city, would favor the Wafd against the NDP. ¶7. (C) Wafd party Secretary-General and Local Council member Hamad Mansour described the 88 independent MB-affiliated MPs elected in 2005 as having "failed" to deliver for their constituents, and criticized Alexandria-based MBs as "illogical" and "theocratic." Mansour asserted that the MB still has strong support from poor areas in Alexandria and neighboring cities with high rates of illiteracy. However, he noted that both NDP-affiliated and other NGOs are working in those poor areas to counter MB influence. Regarding the 2010 Shura Council elections, Mansour believed that the large electoral districts (3 times the size of PA districts) would enable the NDP to use its superior financial resources to defeat the secular opposition parties. -------------- -------------- El-Ghad Planning Strategy of Criticizing GOE Policies -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Alexandria-based Secretary-General of the secular opposition El-Ghad party Sayed Bassiouny told us that El-Ghad has established a coalition with the MB and "other opposition parties," which focuses on generating public opposition to the GOE on the basis of four issues: 1) The possibility of Gamal Mubarak succeeding his father; 2) The lack of presidential term limits; 3) The GOE's focus on Palestine at the expense of Africa, which the coalition believes is more important because of the Nile; and 4) GOE political arrests of leaders such as MB officials and El-Ghad President Ayman Nour. He said the coalition would meet in early October to decide which issues to highlight during the 2010 election campaign. Bassiouny told us that El-Ghad plans to run candidates in only 5 PA districts in 2010 (including ONE in Alexandria) because of a lack of funds. Scobey