Egypt vote shows unease with democracy

Mohammed Kamal promised Monday's elections would be different.

Mr. Kamal, leader of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), described new election rules as a "leap forward in … the increase in political participation in Egypt," at a rare meeting with foreign journalists a few weeks ago.

"We have a test coming up with the Shura Council elections. ... There is unprecedented freedom of expression in Egypt now," he said.

But, instead, the vote for the consultative upper house of parliament proved to be much like previous polls – marked by intimidation and abuse.

Monday's election was marred by the beating of an opposition parliamentarian by the police, limited access to polls, and the arrest of nearly 800 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's powerful political opposition group. The arrests have occurred over the past week, with at least 75 Brotherhood members were arrested Monday.

"It's as expected – a fiasco," says Madgi Abdu, a Brotherhood member.

"There's a massive police presence at the polling station, none of us have been allowed anywhere near the station, including the candidate's family, and they're bussing in NDP supporters,'' he says.

At least three other polling places were confirmed to have blocked Brotherhood supporters from entering. The Islamist group alleged on its website that already full ballot boxes were delivered to some stations, and that others where their candidates were running were shut completely, though this could not be independently confirmed.

Egypt, a close US ally, has promised in recent years – in part due to American pressure – to open up its political system, and officials such as Kamal say it has done just that with a series of constitutional amendments that have changed the country's electoral laws.

But to critics, from the Brotherhood to secular leaning activists in the Kifaya movement, the changes have amounted to the fine tuning of a deeply authoritarian system designed to put a more democratic face on a process that still ensures that no one but the NDP holds the reigns of power here.

It's a process happening not just in Egypt but in Arab neighbors and US allies like Morocco and Jordan, which also have elections coming up. All of these countries have strict limits on Islamist political parties, which tend to be the most popular opposition groups.

The US has also toned down its democracy rhetoric lately out of concern that free elections will empower Islamists that are hostile to the US and replace friendly, if undemocratic, regimes.

The Shura Council itself is a body without law-making powers, though the parliamentary immunity and prestige it affords winners makes it an attractive post to many businessmen. Most Egyptians assume their votes do not count and independent observers said they expect turnout of about 10 percent of the electorate.

In one instance of election day violence, a supporter of an independent candidate was killed by NDP backers in Husseiniya, in Egypt's teeming Nile delta. Such non-Brootherhood independent candidates typically join the NDP bloc if elected.

Egypt's new electoral rules have been crafted to prevent the use of Islamic symbols and slogans, which effectively disqualified the Brotherhood, whose campaign banners usually carry the words: "Islam is the solution." Though the group is illegal, its members managed to get on 19 out of 88 ballots as independents.

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