Supporters of Egypt's army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, wear Egyptian flags and hold military boots on their heads as a sign of support for military rule, during a demonstration outside a police academy on the outskirts of Cairo January 28, 2014, where the trial of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood is due to take place. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

By Maggie Fick

SHEBIN EL KOM, Egypt (Reuters) - 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.

Although Sisi is expected to win by a landslide, the backing these wealthy local kingpins are offering suggests he could entrench his rule much the same way Mubarak did.

The 2011 revolt was meant to rid the political landscape of operators like Saif, who served in parliament under Mubarak. His money and connections give him immense sway in rural Egypt, where people usually vote for whoever distributes jobs or funds.

Saif's door is always open for anyone in the Nile Delta town of Shebin El Kom, a collection of cinderblock apartment buildings on a tributary of the Nile that winds through the country's most productive farmland, north of Cairo.

"Sit down," he said, twirling prayer beads as he sipped tea in his parlour above his nationwide tour company and greeted two men who wanted money to repair their mosque.

"If one is preparing himself to run for elections, he must give services to the people."

In the West, politicians turn to sophisticated public relations companies during electoral campaigns. Here, they look to players like Saif, who sit in their offices listening to constituents and offer solutions by opening their wallets.

Analysts say the nature of Egyptian politics means that the influence of local notables over voting habits, especially in rural towns and villages, where most people live, is likely to remain widespread for years to come.

With many of Mursi's followers in jail or driven underground, and liberal parties unable to challenge Sisi, there are few forces in a position to overhaul the system.

Mubarak's National Democratic Party, which was banned after the 2011 uprising, was never ideological, like the Communist parties in Eastern Europe. Instead the party was an efficient vehicle for distributing patronage.

Sisi, whose image hangs on posters across Shebin El Kom, may

have to depend in the long-term on local politicians who can secure a level of consent from the population that cannot be achieved by force alone.

To keep his popularity intact, Sisi would have to work the strategic countryside, just like Mubarak did.

"Without the rural areas and the population outside the large cities, no government can hope to establish a political mass of support," said H.A. Hellyer, an Egypt expert and nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution.

"If you only have Cairo, you can't hope to hold on forever."

COMEBACK

Well before Saif was elected to parliament in 2005, he was doling out cash to residents of his hometown. The community service helped Saif establish his position as what Harvard University professor Tarek Masoud calls a "local notable".

The term describes "someone with a ready-made vote bank: somebody with a non-negligible number of people who are going to vote for him no matter what," Masoud said.

After Mubarak's ouster, Saif took a backseat politically and watched Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood dominate elections.

Saif saw his opportunity to get back into the game last spring, as anger built over the Brotherhood's rule.

First, he paid to have petitions printed locally for a signature campaign that called for early elections.

Anti-Brotherhood activists told Reuters that Saif began donating supplies to them for protests that they began ahead of June 30, the date set for nationwide demonstrations. He had a platform built, a sound system and tents installed and arranged for free meals to be delivered daily.

Days later, Sisi toppled Mursi and unveiled a political roadmap he promised would bring free and fair elections.

As the state began a security crackdown on the Brotherhood, Saif reprised a role he had honed during Mubarak's rule.

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