Two major Egyptian opposition parties boycotted the second round of the parliamentary elections on Sunday as they said that the runoff was marred by fraud and violations including ballot stuffing and hiring thugs to intimidate voters.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a popular Islamic movement, and the second biggest liberal opposition group Wafd both pulled out of the race.
The elections results are expected to be officially announced in the coming days, although a crushing victory for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), lead by long-term Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, is essentially guaranteed. Mubarak has served as president for the last 29 years.
The new Parliament has 518 seats, 10 of which will be appointed by the president.
Similar to the first round of the elections a week prior, many national and international observers were banned from accessing polling stations and many Brotherhood politicians were arrested.
NDP claimed that Sunday’s voting had been “fair” and “transparent,” they announced on their website.
“The Egyptian regime smugly affirms its success in hosting free and fair elections, saying they considered it a landslide victory,” said the Brotherhood’s movement on its website.
Said Sadek, a professor of American University in Cairo, has described Egypt’s election process in reference to a statement made by Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin.
“Even the idea of the judiciary is not enough, is not sufficient at all. What Stalin once said, ‘It doesn’t matter who votes, what matters is who counts the votes,’ so tallying the votes is also very important,” Voice of America quoted him as saying.
The Muslim Brotherhood is credited as being the parent-movement for extremist Islamic movements in the Middle East such as Hamas.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a popular Islamic movement, and the second biggest liberal opposition group Wafd both pulled out of the race.
The elections results are expected to be officially announced in the coming days, although a crushing victory for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), lead by long-term Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, is essentially guaranteed. Mubarak has served as president for the last 29 years.
The new Parliament has 518 seats, 10 of which will be appointed by the president.
Similar to the first round of the elections a week prior, many national and international observers were banned from accessing polling stations and many Brotherhood politicians were arrested.
NDP claimed that Sunday’s voting had been “fair” and “transparent,” they announced on their website.
“The Egyptian regime smugly affirms its success in hosting free and fair elections, saying they considered it a landslide victory,” said the Brotherhood’s movement on its website.
Said Sadek, a professor of American University in Cairo, has described Egypt’s election process in reference to a statement made by Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin.
“Even the idea of the judiciary is not enough, is not sufficient at all. What Stalin once said, ‘It doesn’t matter who votes, what matters is who counts the votes,’ so tallying the votes is also very important,” Voice of America quoted him as saying.
The Muslim Brotherhood is credited as being the parent-movement for extremist Islamic movements in the Middle East such as Hamas.
