Political analysts claim that had the Egyptian draft constitution on which voters cast their ballot on December 15th and again on the 22nd, been announced in different circumstances, pro and con publicity efforts would have taken another course.
However, the great political debate and anger that hit the Egyptian street as a result of President Mohamed Morsi’s regime imposing a draft constitution, has caused a propaganda campaign—encouraging voters to go to ballot boxes— to lose its luster. The untimely launch of the TV, newspapers, and road advertisements has backfired.
Political analysts claim that had the Egyptian draft constitution on which voters cast their ballot on December 15th and again on the 22nd, been announced in different circumstances, pro and con publicity efforts would have taken another course.
However, the great political debate and anger that hit the Egyptian street as a result of President Mohamed Morsi’s regime imposing a draft constitution, has caused a propaganda campaign—encouraging voters to go to ballot boxes— to lose its luster. The untimely launch of the TV, newspapers, and road advertisements has backfired.
Nevertheless, the propaganda efforts have been associated with much criticism and question marks, which reveal the extent of the crisis this constitution has produced among Egyptians, starting with the non-disclosure of the parties, which will benefit from voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ since they spend large amounts of money, especially on televised advertising, and ending with the content itself, which has uncovered the great dispute between rival parties and their need to win as many supporters as possible, even at the expense of exaggerations and violations, unacceptable in advertising campaigns.
An example of such exaggeration is the most famous ‘yes’ advertisement aired on the Brotherhood sponsored ‘Misr 25’ Channel, titled “Egypt’s Symbolic Figures Said ‘Yes’ for Constitution and Stability”. That advertising material does not present any figure that can be called ‘Egypt’s Symbol’. It also includes other ridiculous expressions, like “Humanity has never seen a constitution that ensures all these rights and duties.” What is even more important is that three members of the constitution’s Constituent Committee appear in it. In other words, those who drafted the disputed constitution are the ones who urge voters to vote ‘yes’.
The ‘ no’ campaigns, meanwhile, interviewed people on the street, amid an obvious focus on the constitution’s anticipated negative economic impacts, especially with regard to job opportunities, health and education. They also remind people who voted ‘yes’ in March 2011 referendum, under the Military Council’s supervision, that that ‘yes’ has not brought about stability for Egypt.
Impartial advertisements, on the other hand, are arranged by the Constituent Committee itself. True, this group says, it is up to the audience to vote for or against, but analyzing it scientifically reveals that it urges them to vote ‘yes’, simply because it inventories all the positive features of the constitution.
Money Talks
Dr. Safwat Alim, Professor of Public Opinion at Cairo University, says it is the first time that certain groups spend money on TV publicity to persuade voters to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. It is difficult, of course, to give an accurate figure about the size of this spending and the millions spent in either direction, but it certainly points to the desire of strong contesting powers to attract society towards their respective territory. He also indicates that most of the advertisements deal with the constitution as a whole, instead of discussing its minute details. In other words, they demand you to say ‘yes’ for the constitution that promises stability and welfare, or ‘no’ for the constitution that “ruins one’s life”. However, any details related to the constitution itself and its articles are missing from these ads, leaving this task to the television programs.
Alim rules out that those ads could affect the opinions of those who have already made their minds because they see in the advertisements what confirm their point of view. The undecided voters, meanwhile, will become more confused when they watch the advertisements due to the strong division affecting society.
Alim also criticizes the lack of the publicity that helps voters know their committees and election date, after the issuing of an improvised decision holding the referendum on two stages. This task used to be performed by the presidential election’s candidates themselves, but now they are only concerned with ‘yes’ or ‘no’, without any concern for whether or not people themselves go to polling stations.
For his part, Dr. Hassan Emad Makkawi, Dean of the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University, believes that people this time do not need TV advertising because their discussions of the constitution are endless, especially those who understand its importance in Egyptian’s day to day life, rather than those whose main concern is to provide their sustenance since such people may not cast their votes at all. Makkawi says people have become more aware, which makes it impossible for paid TV advertisements to change their opinion, especially because advertisements are obviously designed to serve other people’s opinions. Modern viewers can now more quickly appreciate what is being shown, making it necessary for any group to present credible and well-balanced advertisements.
Dr. Mahmoud Yusuf, Head of Public Relations and Advertising at Cairo University, agrees with these views. He believes personal and mass communication is the most effective advertising tool for voting in favor or against the constitution because a person with a social standing can convince people to vote ‘yes’, for example, more effectively than any advertising campaign seen on TV or read in newspapers or billboards. He rules out that advertising campaigns can influence pre-planned voting attitudes, stressing that mosques, churches, clubs, and coffee shops are also greatly effective in shaping public opinion trends, especially in light of the inability of millions of voters to verify the information they receive, so they tend to vote as advised by the person who is closer to them and enjoys their confidence.
Yusuf, however, is not surprised about the great spread and huge budgets of such campaigns given that they are a constant feature of democratic communities. The Egyptians, he believes, are still not used to this tendency. He however agrees with Alim vis-à-vis society’s right to know the extent of such budgets.
Two observations should be noted in this context; the first is a marked absence of celebrities, journalists and athletes from the voting campaigns, which may be attributed to time constraint but the most important thing is the extent of disputes in society. The second observation is that the ‘yes’ TV channels, like Misr 25, do not of course show the ‘no’ advertisements, and vice versa.
