Mubarak-era networks return for new military man in Egypt
When an uprising toppled Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak, men like Ahmed Saif who helped run his vast patronage network melted away.
Three years later, Saif and other former members of Mubarak's party are back in action in the populous countryside, offering everything from refrigerators for newlyweds to welfare-like stipends to the poor in exchange for votes.
This time, the slick political machine is drumming up support for army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who toppled Egypt's first freely-elected leader, Islamist Mohamed Mursi, and is expected to become president.
Their return casts fresh doubts about the stumbling political transition in the biggest Arab state.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/01/29/uk-egypt-patronage-insight-idUKBREA0S0CS20140129