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Egypt's Ruling Party Maintains Grip on Power
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Monitoring
groups said "only NDP supporters have been allowed by police
to enter polling stations using their party IDs (Reuters)
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CAIRO,
December 8, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) has
maintained its grip on power, winning 102 seats in the runoffs of
Egypt's final round of parliamentary elections, marred by killings and
violence.
Partial
results released by the electoral commission on Thursday, December 8,
showed that the NDP and affiliated independents have own a total of
314 seats in the 444-member legislature, reported Agence France Presse
(AFP).
By
law, Mubarak has the authority of appointing another ten members to
the parliament.
The
results give the NDP more than 72 percent of seats, securing the
two-thirds majority needed to retain control of any amendments to the
constitution.
This
could be important if the government tries to change the system of
presidential elections.
A
constitutional amendment this year opened the way for Egypt's first
multi-candidate presidential race in September but the rules make it
almost impossible for a rival to stand against the NDP candidate in
2011.
Despite
the parliamentary majority, the NDP's tally falls short of the 404
seats it mustered in the 2000 polls.
Strong
Opposition
The
officially banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood won 12 seats in
Wednesday's runoffs, bringing to 88 the total number of seats in
parliament, six times the number of MPs it had in the outgoing
chamber.
"We
will be an opposition group, a strong opposition group," leading
Brotherhood member Issam al-Aryan told AFP.
By
clinching almost 20 percent of parliamentary seats, the group made the
most serious dent in Mubarak's 24-year-old autocratic rule.
With
more results to be announced Thursday and seven candidates involved in
12 re-runs, the movement could still edge closer to the 100 mark.
The
partial results also saw rare victories for two prominent members of
the secular opposition, one from the liberal Al-Wafd and the other
from the Nasserist Karama party.
So
far, only four women and one Coptic Christian have won seats.
Blatant
Intervention
The
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights reported that hundreds of
polling stations had been closed nearly all day Wednesday.
"Only
NDP supporters have been allowed to enter polling stations using their
party IDs," it said in a statement.
Polling
stations were sealed off by Egyptian police, especially in areas where
Muslim Brotherhood candidates were contesting, fueling frustration
that often spilled over into violence, leaving eight people killed.
"This
blatant biased intervention of security forces in the election
undermines the transparency of the voting process and clearly points
to the government's intent to tamper with the results," the
Egyptian Association for Supporting Democratic Development said in a
report.
The
independent daily Nahdet Masr described the situation as
"a siege slapped on the Muslim Brothers" by the government.
Scenes
reminiscent of the Palestinian intifada filled the streets of Nile
Delta towns and villages in northern Egypt, as youngsters armed with
stones played cat-and-mouse with riot police firing tear gas and
rubber bullets.
The
interior ministry denied any attempt to prevent voting, insisting that
the elections were "proceeding smoothly" and that the
violence was instigated by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Independent
monitors have reported the use of NDP-hired thugs to intimidate
supporters of opposition candidates and voters.
IOL
has revealed that Egyptian security agents directed machete- and
club-wielding gangs in attacks against voters and supporters of
opposition candidates in the second round of voting.
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