Cairo: Having done a special congregational prayer for Eid Al Adha in his constituency in Helwan, south of Cairo, Sayyed Mesha'al, a candidate of the ruling National Democratic Party for this month's legislative elections ordered 15 cows be slaughtered and distributed to local people.
In fact, Mesha'al, the incumbent Minister of Military Production, was not the only parliamentary hopeful to seize the occasion of the sacrificial feast to woo voters with meat.
Contenders from across Egypt's political spectrum did as such. Rami Lakah, a Coptic business tycoon standing for the parliament, ordered cows slaughtered and distributed to inhabitants in the northern Cairo district of Shubra.
Campaigning for the November 28 elections, seen as crucial for Egypt's presidential elections, coincides with a rise in food prices in this country of 80 million people where around 40 per cent are believed to live below the poverty.
"We are lucky because the election campaigning coincides with Eid Al Adha," said a man in his fifties, who identified himself as a Mustafa. "Candidates running for the parliament from different political parties and independents are using meat to impress voters," Mustafa, who is a father of five, told Gulf News. They know what people suffer from and try to make an impact," he added as he was carrying a big piece of meat wrapped in paper. He, however, declined to say if he will vote for the candidate, whose supporters had just given away meat. "God will reward people according to their intentions," he said tersely.
