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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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