Egypt’s opposition groups quit “rigged” vote

CAIRO (Agencies)

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest opposition bloc in the outgoing parliament, and a smaller party withdrew on Wednesday from an election they

 said was rigged by thugs, ballot box stuffing and other ploys. Sunday’s first round set up President Hosni Mubarak’s party for its usual sweeping victory after run-offs due to be held on Dec. 5. Government officials said the race was free and fair. Independent Egyptian monitoring groups said the result was discredited by abuses. The United States, Egypt’s ally and major aid donor, said it was disappointed by the conduct of the poll.

	I hope withdrawing from the run-off is a step for the opposition to rally its forces and ally because the issue at the end of the day is not about getting seats but about change
Hassan Nafaa

Critics said the brazen way the ruling party shunted out the Brotherhood and left other parties with just a handful of seats could help galvanize opponents seeking political change before next year’s presidential election.

Analysts said the government wanted to silence its Islamist critics in the assembly to ensure a smooth presidential race.

Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie said Mubarak’s government had broken its promise to hold clean elections, but vowed his group would not resort to violence.

“We will not allow anyone to tempt us into breaking the law,” he told a news conference. “The crimes committed by the regime clearly reflect its weakness and confusion. … Whatever is built on falsehood is false,” he added. “The election is invalid.”

Mubarak, 82, whose health has been under renewed scrutiny since gallbladder surgery in March, has been in power for almost three decades and has not said if he will seek another six-year term. Officials indicate he will, if he is able.

“I hope withdrawing from the run-off is a step for the opposition to rally its forces and ally because the issue at the end of the day is not about getting seats but about change,” said political scientist and opposition campaigner Hassan Nafaa.

The Brotherhood, which controlled a fifth of seats in the outgoing parliament but emerged from the first round with none, said it would not contest run-offs for 26 of its candidates.

“We hope this decision to boycott will unite opposition forces,” Saad al-Katatni, the head of the parliamentary bloc who lost his own seat, said after the Brotherhood’s leader announced the decision to quit.

The liberal Wafd party, which controlled 12 seats in the outgoing assembly, making it the second biggest opposition bloc, also said it was pulling out. It won two seats in the first round and was set to contest nine run-offs.

Wafd, which analysts say often hovers between government and opposition camps, said it would decide on Thursday what to do about the two seats it won. It said the vote was “scandalous”.

	While the commission deeply regrets these violations, it is satisfied and reassured that these violations didn’t impact the integrity and fairness of the results of the first round of elections
Sameh el-Kashef

“Will of the voters”

Egypt’s High Elections Commission said any abuses were being checked but would not undermine what it called a fair vote.

Ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Secretary-General Safwat Sherif said the Brotherhood had lost the electorate’s confidence. “The point is not a parliament without opposition, but a parliament that represents the will of the voters.”

But analysts said that crushing Islamists in the assembly might empower radicals who believe the Brotherhood’s stated strategy of using only peaceful means to achieve a democratic Islamic state has failed, adding to other public frustrations.

“You have a maximization of power by the elite but at the same time you have increasing levels of discontent,” said Barak Seener of the Royal United Services Institute in London.

Analysts said frustration at the monopolisation of power may add to grumbling about low wages and food prices rising at more than 20 percent in a country where figures show a fifth of the 79 million people live on less than $1 a day.

The White House said Monday it was dismayed by reports of election-day interference and intimidation by security forces – irregularities that call into question the fairness and transparency of the process. Egypt is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters Tuesday that ultimately it was up to the Egyptian government to satisfy its people’s desire for broader participation in the political process.

“We will, as part of our ongoing dialogue with Egypt, continue, where we feel appropriate, to express our concerns about these kinds of developments,” Crowley said.

Spokesman for the High Election Commission, Sameh el-Kashef, told reporters Tuesday that 1.4% of nearly 90,000 ballot boxes were discarded due to tampering.

“While the commission deeply regrets these violations, it is satisfied and reassured that these violations didn’t impact the integrity and fairness of the results of the first round of elections,” he said.

The commission said turnout was 35 percent, considerably higher than the figure of no more than 15 percent given by most observers and rights groups.