This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Elections 2011/12.

As the time approaches for the Egyptian presidential election, there have been calls not only in Egypt but also around the Arab world for televised presidential debates. During the 2005 presidential election Mubarak rebuffed calls for such debates, but now with a genuine presidential race for the first time, Egyptian voters are keen to see the kind of debates they have watched taking place in the United States and elsewhere.

On April 22, Twitter users discussed the idea of “Monazarat” (“Debates”), and called for televised presidential debates in Egypt.

Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard M. Nixon during the first televised U.S. presidential debate in 1960. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Bassem Sabry introduced the campaign to demand televised presidential debates, and the Twitter hashtag to use (#Monazarat).

Safwat Safi ‏tweeted [ar]:

Journalist Mohamed Abdel Kodos wrote on his blog [ar]:

Blogger Sara Labib expressed her amazement [ar]:

Twitter user ta7riro ‏suggested some debate topics:

@khelaly: healthcare, slums, street children, cultural heritage, innovation

Writer Marwa Elnaggar criticised the presidential elections’ poster frenzy and tweeted [ar]:

Iyad Elbaghdadi joked:

@iyad_elbaghdadi: At the very least, presidential debates in #Egypt will give our stand-up comedians some new material!

Hesham Alquraini believes such debates would be highly significant [ar]:

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Elections 2011/12.