CAIRO: Online discussion through comment boxes and forums has been widespread, but some sites about Egypt’s constitutional amendment process have made viewer participation and commentary a central part of their mission.
Engaging online seems to be a larger trend in the Egyptian political sphere.
“The internet opens up new possibilities for participation, which twenty years ago were still unthinkable,” said Hend Aly, project assistant at Dustuur al-Shaab.
“At the same time, the internet can never be the only tool of participation and all the traditional methods from mass media to face-to-face encounters will remain extremely important.”
Dustuur al-Shaab has gathered numerous written contributions and short video interviews through Facebook, Twitter and the website itself.
The project focuses on issues, not articles, and its website presents information on every issue relevant to the constitution, including women’s rights, the voting system and children.
Even the official Egyptian Constitution website makes sharing, discussing and contributing a central feature. Website visitors can “like” or “dislike” a draft article or post comments through a Facebook account.
As of Nov. 16, over 9,000 people had visited the site, and the most discussed article was Article 163, with 99 comments.
Article 163 is about the State Council, a judicial body.
Parallel Constitution of Egypt asked viewers to endorse its alternative constitution by signing with a name and an organization. This information shows up in a crowdsourced map.
Written by a diverse set of Egyptian professionals, the document seeks to “provide meaningful and applicable articles; comply with international standards of governance and treaties of human rights; [and pay] attention to the future, its power of technology, and how the wide base of young generations will make use of it,” according to a statement on the group’s Facebook page.
These online tools connect citizens directly to the political process, a condition previously difficult through broadcast media.
Aly told The Cairo Post he hopes that in the future, political representatives will have more dynamic ways to reach out to their citizens, and that citizens will have the ability to easily follow specific issues or representatives.
