 |
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 2 - 8 November 2000 Issue No. 506 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 2 - 8 November 2000 Issue No. 506
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
Egypt Region Interview International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Kinship rules
SUNDAY'S election day in the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahliya was a day for expressing kinship loyalty, reports Soha Abdelaty. Voters who headed to the ballot boxes to choose from among 396 candidates running for 34 seats in 17 constituencies marked their ballots according to patron-client ties, unmindful of political agendas or, it appeared at times, even a candidate's contribution to the service of his community.Many voters interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly said the presence of judges supervising the process made the elections free and fair this time, adding, however, that considerations of kinship and patronage made them cast votes for candidates who might not necessarily work for their benefit. "This is our real problem, the people now seem to have democracy, but they still do not know how to use it properly," argued a villager in the town of Senbellawen as he left the local polling station.
The fate of only five seats was determined in the first round, with four going to candidates of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and the fifth to an independent, leaving the remaining 29 seats to be contested in Saturday's run-offs. Again the battle will be largely confined to NDP and independent candidates, the latter including three candidates of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood's relative success marked a break from the patron-client norm of voting. For example, Brotherhood candidate Shafiq El-Dib, who qualified for Saturday's run-offs, seems to have gained support all over the Atmidah district, including villages other than his own, such as Borg Al-Nour. "Islam is the solution," a slogan posted on the walls of the villages visited by Al-Ahram Weekly seemed to have convinced citizens that Brotherhood candidates were worthy of their votes.
The only incident of violence was at the village of Sandoub, where Brotherhood candidate Saber Zaher, who qualified for the run-offs, and his supporters complained that they were prevented from reaching the polling station and that many names were not on the voters lists. At the end of the day, villagers attempted to prevent the judges from transporting the ballot boxes to the vote-counting stations by throwing stones and burning car tires. Police had to intervene, using tear-gas.
A common complaint in the majority of electoral districts was the discrepancy between the names on the voters lists inside the polling stations and the names on people's registration cards. Registration cards carried the official names of voters, while the lists, compiled by municipal officials, were based in many cases on people's names as they are commonly used. "This is a problem that I have seen spill over from the first stage of elections," explained Judge Ahmed Abdel-Sadeq, who was supervising elections in the village of Miniyet Samannoud, Aga, and who had previously supervised first stage elections in the oasis governorate of Fayoum. "The only way this can be overcome is to have the lists compiled by the civil registry and computerised," he added.
Related stories:
See Elections 2000
