CAIRO, 28 October 2005 — Egyptians go the polls for parliamentary elections in less than two weeks’ time in a new test of democratic intentions in the Arab world’s most populous country.
The final list of candidates vying for the 444 parliamentary seats up for grabs in Egypt’s 222 constituencies was due to be late yesterday, after the Electoral Commission spent a week weeding out some of the 5,488 hopefuls.
The announcement will mark the official start of the campaign, although it had already been in full swing during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The three-phase election will kick off just after the Eid Al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of Ramadan with polling in Cairo and some other central provinces on Nov. 9.
President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) currently controls 402 out of the 454 seats in Parliament, where 10 MPs are appointed directly by the president.
The NDP was the only party to field the full 444 candidates but it could face a stiffer challenge than in the past, both from the opposition and from NDP renegades who have decided to stand as independents.
Spearheading the charge against the NDP is the Muslim Brotherhood, an officially banned movement which remains the best-organized opposition force in Egypt and has promised big gains from its current tally of 15 seats.
Masters in the art of politicking, the Muslim Brothers have kept all their options open, striking alliances with other opposition forces in many constituencies whilst retaining their own list.
The movement, which has been the target of repeated waves of arrests by the state’s security forces, is for the first time fielding candidates openly and looks set to benefit from the weakness of the secular opposition.
The Ghad party is fielding candidates in 90 percent of constituencies but its leader Ayman Nur is embroiled in legal difficulties and faces a challenge from rebels within his own ranks.
Several leftist movements and the liberal Wafd party have formed a coalition, the United National Front for Change (UNFC), but it lacks grass roots support.
“If we, the secular parties, don’t get a reasonable score in these elections, it will be too late. Most of us will be dead and buried by the next elections,” Wafdist UNFC candidate Mohammed Kamel said.
In the last parliamentary elections in 2000, less than 40 percent of the vote went to the NDP, but scores of winning candidates who stood as independents later rallied to the ruling party.
