Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 October 2000 Issue No. 504
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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It begins

By Gamal Essam El-Din

The first stage of parliamentary elections began yesterday in nine governorates: Alexandria, Beheira, Menoufiya, Suez, Port Said, Ismailia, Fayoum, Sohag and Qena. Run-off elections will be organised on 24 October.

For the first time in the nation's 134-old parliamentary history, Elections 2000 are being held in three stages. This followed a ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court in July that the judiciary supervise and monitor all principal and auxiliary polling stations. The second and third stages, starting on 29 October and ending on 14 November, will include 17 governorates. The total number of candidates running in the three stages has reached 4,116.

In yesterday's race, a total of 1,262 candidates, running in 75 constituencies, competed for 150 parliamentary seats. The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) fielded 150 candidates, and the largest opposition party, the Wafd, had 82 contenders. The leftist Tagammu and Nasserist parties fielded 20 candidates each, and the Liberal party had eight candidates in the race. Moreover, some 22 candidates belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood ran as independents. Indeed, the vast majority of all candidates, 980, were independents, including 543 NDP members running on their own because the ruling party decided not to nominate them.

The candidates also included 30 women and 25 Copts.

In a radio and television broadcast to the nation on Sunday, on the eve of the elections, President Hosni Mubarak said the ruling party and the opposition parties are two sides of the same coin. "They complement each other in the framework of democratic action," Mubarak said. Urging voters to go to the polls, President Mubarak added: "Your active participation will help strengthen the principle of the state of institutions. This state is based on respect for law, freedom of speech and human rights. An effective parliament in the new century will open the way for a successful future." He added that the next stage of national action should focus on three subjects: technological progress, fighting corruption and giving the new generations a greater say in the decision-making process.

In the first stage of elections, 75 principal and 5,137 auxiliary polling stations were supervised by 6,431 members of the judicial authority. The latter figure included, despite objections raised by the opposition, 2,850 district prosecutors.

The indications are that out of the 150 seats contested in the first stage, NDP candidates are poised to win at least 120. This means that the NDP faces uphill battles for between 25 and 30 seats. The reason is the relatively large number of Wafdist and independent candidates.

Yesterday's opening round of the first stage is not expected to be conclusive. The run-off round next Tuesday is likely to cover one half of the 75 constituencies involved.

In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, 234 candidates competed for 22 seats. The race here was especially intriguing because the candidates were a rich pick from all the various parties: NDP, Wafd, Nasserist, Tagammu, Muslim Brotherhood and independents, who were largely NDP members excluded from the official ruling party list. They also included businessmen, women and Copts. The fact that the NDP replaced 17 members of the outgoing People's Assembly with new faces also gave the Alexandria battle added significance.

The challenge faced by the NDP's new candidates, including two women, lay in that that they were fighting against either veteran parliamentarians or opposition figures who have great popularity in their constituencies. In the district of Al-Attarin, the NDP candidate for the workers' seat, Widad Shalabi, faced eight opposition candidates, and in the district of Bab Shark, NDP candidate Mariam Mustafa faced 11 opposition candidates.

Shalabi was fighting a difficult battle against the Wafd's Omar Barakat who, in 1995, managed to win the Al-Attarin seat. As for Mustafa, she faced an Islamist, Adel Eid, and a woman Wafdist candidate, Hekmat Hassan. The NDP's position in the district of Qarmouz was also weak. The NDP's new candidate Ahmed Marei ran against the leftist former parliamentarian and veteran labour leader Abul-Ezz El-Hariri.

The candidates of the Muslim Brotherhood in Alexandria are some of the strongest in the whole election race. They are Jihan El-Halafawi and El-Muhammadi El-Sayed (running in the El-Raml district), Ibrahim Abdel-Malek (in Sidi Gaber), and Adel Eid and Khaled El-Zaafrani (in Bab Sharq).

In Beheira governorate, there were 255 candidates competing for 26 seats. The NDP nominated 26 candidates, 15 of whom were new, and the Wafd fielded 11. This governorate could be the scene of fierce battles, especially in Mahmoudiya, with independent former governor Sabri El-Qadi facing the NDP's Saad Qamara, and Damanhour, where Tagammu's Zohdi El-Shami is running against the NDP's new candidate, Naguib El-Batat, chairman of the Beheira Businessmen's Association. El-Shami likes to describe the Damanhour battle as a face-off between socialism and capitalism.

What added to the ferocity of the battle in the governorate is the fact that the NDP candidates were opposed by at least four former assistants to the Minister of the Interior and at least five independent businessmen.

The Liberal party's woman candidate, Umm Kulthoum El-Banna, was opposed by 15 candidates in Kafr Al-Dawwar. Stiff competition also confronted Wafdist Hanan Sobhi in Damanhour and Samia Allam in Abu Hommos.

In Menoufiya governorate, there were 148 candidates, including Wafdists and independents, engaged in fierce competition for 22 seats. The NDP fielded 22 candidates, six of whom were new, the Wafd nominated 12 and there were 88 independents. In Al-Bagour, Kamal El-Shazli, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, ran against Wafdist businessman Mohamed Kamel and, in Menouf, two tycoon businessmen, Ahmed Ezz and Ibrahim Kamel, ran against each other. Similar confrontations were also reported in the districts of Tala, Istanha, Quesna, and Shebin Al-Kom.

In the governorates of Suez, Port Said and Ismailia, there were 136 candidates, many of them businessmen, competing for 16 seats. The Wafd party fielded 15 candidates against 16 nominated by the NDP, including 10 new faces. Although the NDP won 14 seats in the three governorates in 1995, the indications are that the competition would be tough. This is particularly so in Port Said's Al-Manakh district, with the NDP's businessman Abdel-Wahab Qouta running against the Wafd's Mohamed Sherdi, and in Suez City's first district with the NDP's businessman Salah Shaladim running against veteran Nasserist parliamentarian Farouk Metwalli. There were also seven women candidates running in the three governorates.

In the governorates of Fayoum, Sohag and Qena, there were 489 candidates competing for 64 seats. The NDP nominated 64 candidates, versus 23 from the Wafd party. In all three provinces, tribal and family considerations have a major say in determining nominations and the voting process. The candidates included six Copts and three women. There were also seven candidates for the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

In Fayoum, Minister of Agriculture and NDP Secretary-General Youssef Wali was assured of an uncontested victory in the Ibshiway district.

 

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