A coalition led by the leading Egyptian Coptic art collector and entrepreneur Naguib Sawiris secured a 15% to 20% share of the vote in the first round of the Egyptian elections in November. Sawiris, who established mobile phone operator Orascom Telecom in 2001, established the party Al Masryeen Al Ahrar (The Free Egyptians), early last year. The liberal Egyptian Bloc, spearheaded by Sawiris’ Free Egyptians, came in third after the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom & Justice Party and the ultra-conservative Al Nour Party. Sawiris plans to build a museum in Cairo to house his collection of modern Egyptian art.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'Collector in third'