CAIRO: A cheery chorus of faces clap along to Amr Mostafa singing “Inzil!” meaning, “go down,” encouraging the Egyptian public to participate in the parliamentary elections that kicked off Sunday morning for domestic Egyptians (expats began their voting Saturday.)
Polls opened Sunday morning at 9 a.m. in Egypt; citizens abroad began to cast their ballots Saturday.
The parliamentary elections will complete the 2013 political roadmap set out by then-Defense Minister, and now President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, that laid out the drafting of a constitution, adopted in January 2014, and presidential elections, which took place in May 2014.
Egyptians often commemorate major political events through song; following the July 2013 ouster of Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi, singer Mostafa Kamel put out the song “Teslam el Ayadi,” a love letter to the army. The song quickly became ubiquitous, and could be heard blasting from most kiosks, ringtones, and at pro-government demonstrations.
Following the January 25 Revolution, Cairokee’s “Sout al-Horeya,” meaning “The voice of freedom,” quickly became the anthem for many youth; the video was filmed among the crowds still reveling after Hosni Mubarak stepped down.