The first of 3 voting days calm for Egypt
CAIRO— Relative calm and cautious optimism dominated the first round of Egypt’s most hotly contested parliamentary elections in decades. Thousands of Egyptians flocked to polls in Cairo and seven other provinces to vote in what is seen as the second test of a push for democratization and political reform in the authoritarian country. The rest of the country votes Nov. 20 or Dec. 1. The combined ballots will elect 444 winners — out of a total of 5,000 candidates — who will be the new legislature The first test took place last summer when multi-candidate presidential elections re- elected Hosni Mubarak after a constitutional amendment.
Although the parliament is seen as a toothless body, unable to challenge the president’s authority, only parties that win 5 per cent or more of the parliamentary seats can field candidates for the next presidential race.
Anticipating yesterday’s poll, President Mubarak’s ruling National Democratic Party ran a fierce campaign in the face of a broad coalition of nationalist, leftist, and liberal parties that joined forces for the first time. But the biggest challenger was the still- banned Muslim Brotherhood. Unlike all past races, all declared Brotherhood prisoners were released before the vote and its candidates ( running as independents) used the slogan “ Islam is the solution” in their campaigns.
“Security measures until now are quite reasonable and we have felt a significant degree of freedom present during the campaign,” said Mohammad Mansoor, a Muslim Brotherhood candidate in one of Cairo’s poor east- end neighbourhoods. “ But we don’t know how long this will last. Past experiences are not encouraging. Still, we are willing to give them ( authorities) the benefit of the doubt.”
There were no major clashes with police or incidents of serious violence but civil society groups complained of vote buying and harassment of opposition supporters. A study by the Cairo- based Centre for Human Rights found election coverage by mainstream media outlets, many government-run, flagrantly favoured Mubarak’s party.
Opposition members also claimed ballot boxes were tampered with in certain districts while being transported from polls to counting stations without independent observer escorts. The government denied the charges.
For Egypt’s first recipient of a Nobel for literature, Naguib Mahfouz, the elections are an opportunity for Egyptians to overcome political troubles, regardless of forces surrounding them. “ I think things slowly get better after these elections,” the 94- year- old author told a small social gathering as yesterday’s poll ended. “ I hope they do.”