The Egyptian Bloc is an electoral alliance that unites three liberal and leftist political parties; the Free Egyptians Party, Al Tagamo’ Party and the Egyptian Social Democratic Party.
On August 25th, 2011, the coalition was established with about 14 political parties (all were liberal and leftists) with the aim of facing and combating the Islamist political powers and parties emerging in the country after the 25th of January revolution. Eleven parties withdrew from the alliance leaving only the three existing political parties in the bloc. The main rival of the Egyptian Bloc is the National Democratic Alliance with its leading political party Freedom and Justice party.
In Egypt’s 2011 parliamentary elections, the Egyptian Bloc is fielding 332 candidates across the 46 constituencies. The alliance is fielding all its sum of candidates in the proportional lists during the parliamentary elections and the Shura Council elections. However, about 80 per cent of its candidates are competing as individuals in the parliamentary elections and 70 per cent are running as individuals in the Shura Council
Some 75 candidates of the alliance belong to Al Tagamo’ Party and will compete in both the parliamentary and Shura Council elections in most of the Egyptian governorates.
Members of the bloc are mostly intellectuals, experts and high calibers in both the political and the legal arenas. In a constituency in North Cairo, Emad Gad, a senior political expert at Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, is on the top of the proportional list. In Al Sharqiya governorate, the constitutional expert Mohamed Nour is running for an individual seat. In Cairo’s fourth constituency, Zeyad Al Elimy, a revolutionary activist comes on the top of the proportional list. As for the bloc’s female candidates, the well-known political analyst and professor Mona Makram Ebied is competing in the Qaliubiya governorate.
The bloc brings together Egyptian poet Ahmed Foad Negm, the business tycoon Naguib Sawiras, scientist Farouk Al Baz, high profile gynecologist Mohamed Abu Al Ghar and economist Hazem Al Biblawy.
