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Scotland gets Egyptians' vote

A group of nine journalists from Egypt visited Glasgow and Edinburgh (May 2-6) to observe the Scottish Parliamentary elections where they witnessed a “seismic” shift in Scottish politics, with the Scottish National Party being returned to power with a landslide majority - the first time any party has held an outright majority in the new Scottish Parliament which was reconstituted in 1999. The journalists attended election-planning workshops conducted by Charles McGhee, a former editor of The Herald and a visiting Professor in Journalism and Media at Glasgow Caledonian University.

The Visit was facilitated by Charles on behalf of the Thomson Foundation and the European Neighbourhood Journalism Network.

An intensive week included visits to major Scottish newspapers, including The Herald in Glasgow, The Scotsman in Edinburgh, and the new studios of BBC Scotland and the independent commercial channel STV, both located at Pacific Quay in Glasgow.

The group, drawn from print, broadcast and online news outlets, discussed the challenges of covering free elections with some of Scotland’s senior journalists and enjoyed some robust exchanges, particularly with the political teams at The Scotsman and STV. “We learned something different during every visit,” said Aliaa Hamed, a senior journalist with Al-Shorouk Al-Gadid, an independent newspaper that serves greater Cairo.

The journalists also toured the controversial Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh (it cost £400 million – 10 times the original estimate) and received a briefing from the Electoral Commission on running elections in the UK. They were particularly interested in the make-up of the Scottish Parliament (a mix of first-past-the-post and PR) as Egypt is considering a similar format for its new democratically-elected parliament.

Among the highlights of the group’s Scottish tour was the opportunity to attend the election count in Glasgow’s SECC (Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre) during the early hours of Friday, May 6, and the chance to join the audience at the final live televised party leaders’ debate of the Scottish election campaign broadcast by STV.

“After the debate, I couldn’t believe the party leaders walked into the audience to talk to ordinary members of the public,” said Rania el Maky, editor of the English-language Daily News. “That would never happen in Egypt.”

The group made news themselves when several members were interviewed by BBC Radio Scotland, Radio Clyde, and by post-graduate journalism students at Glasgow Caledonian University. The Lord Provost (Lord Mayor) of Glasgow, Bob Winter, also hosted a civic reception for the group at Glasgow City Chambers where they took full advantage of the opportunity to discuss the importance of local democracy.

“It was a really worthwhile experience,” said Merette Ibrahim, a senior journalist with the online news site Al-Youm Al-Sabea. “On my return I will discuss our election planning with the team based on what we have seen and learned here.”