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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 9 -15 November 2000 Issue No.507 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 9 -15 November 2000 Issue No.507
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A farewell to apathy
The voter turnout was heavy. And in the end it was noisy. For once, people were taking parliamentary elections seriously. Now that the ballot is under full judicial supervision, they have abandoned their former apathy, convinced that their votes will count.
In the third, and final, stage of elections, tens of thousands headed yesterday to some 5,000 polling stations in Cairo and seven other governorates to fill 160 parliamentary seats for which 1,325 candidates competed.
The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), whose performance in the first and second stages was disappointing, fielded 160 candidates. The liberal Wafd had 102 candidates, the leftist Tagammu 17 and the Nasserist Party 12. The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood which captured 15 seats in the first and second stages, fielded 23 candidates, running as independents. A run-off round is planned for Tuesday.
President Hosni Mubarak cast his vote at a school, used as a polling station, in suburban Heliopolis. Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, casting his vote in the Cairo district of Doqqi, displayed support for NDP candidate Amal Osman, deputy speaker of the outgoing People's Assembly, by staging a brief appearance with her. Osman is running in Doqqi against Brotherhood candidate Maamoun El-Hodeibi.
The ballot went smoothly at the majority of polling stations, with people queuing outside, loudspeakers blaring, and supporters of candidates distributing their pictures and printed promises. But scattered incidents of violence were reported in Cairo's working class neighbourhood of Boulaq and the industrial suburb of Shubra Al-Kheima, north of the capital.
In Shubra itself, where Economy Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali was running, many shops were closed because their owners were apparently determined to vote. "The minister, the minister is number one," barefoot children, with Ghali's pictures pinned to their chests, shouted as the minister arrived in a motorcade of limousines and vans.
FAIR AND SQUARE: Judicial supervision, a step down the road to democracy 
photo: Al-Ahram
The motorcade blocked the narrow alleys of the poor district. "How will we speak to him if he wins, if he has to bring in all these security men with him?" a voter commented.
At Doqqi El-Hodeibi's supporters said they were prevented by police from entering the polling station. At least one of them was arrested as he distributed leaflets carrying the Brotherhood's slogan "Islam is the solution." But other voters were seen casting their ballots peacefully.
In the Cairo district of Abdin supporters of Seif El-Islam Hassan El-Banna were directed to go in merry-go-arounds from one polling station to the next, apparently in the hope that they would give up and go home.
Four supporters of imprisoned Islamist journalist Magdi Hussein were said to have been arrested in Manial.
Outside polling stations in the poor districts of Gamaliya and Bab El-Sha'riya, supporters of candidates were offering money for votes. "I control four votes, my husband and three relatives," a young woman said. A candidate's proxy offered her LE200, but she turned down the offer.
Some 20 microbuses roamed the alleys of Ezbet Al-Zabbalin, home to garbage collectors, to pick up people to vote for NDP candidate Ibrahim Soliman, minister of housing.
A polling station was besieged by security forces who prevented voters from going inside because they were expected to back Soliman's rival, Mahmoud Zeinhom. "The minister will have his way anyway, but I should be allowed to choose whomsoever I want," a voter commented.
At the Sheikh Ali polling station in Bulaq, voting was suspended for an hour after NDP supporters, shouting "We will kill the judges," stormed the station and tore the voting lists.
The supervising judge told Al Ahram Weekly: "The situation now is like a hot coffee-pot. We can't touch it now."
But journalist Amina Shafiq, candidate of the leftist Tagammu Party, was upbeat. "Egyptian women emerge triumphant from such battles," she said. "I'm not worried or tired. I'm living my best days."
In the downtown commercial district of Al-Azbakiya, business tycoon Rami Lakah, an independent, ran against the NDP's Abdel-Ahad Gamaleddin, chairman of the Arab Affairs Committee of the outgoing Assembly. Lakah's supporters distributed leaflets urging voters "not to vote for corruption." The leaflets carried an old picture of Gamaleddin posing with Ahmed El-Rayan, one time chairman of the bankrupt and fraudulent investment company.
Gamaleddin's supporters distributed leaflets reminding voters that what counts are "achievements, not promises."
At the industrial suburb of Helwan, south of Cairo, where Sayed Mashaal, Minister of State for Military Production, was running, green-capped NDP supporters stood vigil outside the entrance of a polling station, closely guarding Mashaal's wife and daughter.
Tens of tell-tale buses, with neat hand-written posters on their windshields "Tebbin 1" and "Ma'sara 2", were parked outside. Asked what they were doing there, a bus driver responded: "We are doing elections." Passers by explained that it was customary for the military production factories located in Helwan to bus their workers to the polling stations to vote for the minister.
The Middle East News Agency said that in the town of Marsa Matrouh, west of Alexandria, Abdel-Rehim Abu-Rehim, a Liberal Party candidate, suffered a stroke in the course of an argument with fellow tribesmen. He suffered semi-paralysis.
Also in Matrouh, the agency said, cameramen of the government-owned Alexandria television were barred by judges from entering the polling stations to follow the voting process. The cameramen had no choice but to accompany the provincial governor on an election tour.
According to Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif, the NDP has won 233 out of 282 seats, a percentage of 82.6, in the first and second stages of elections. This figure lumps together 99 candidates who ran on the official NDP slate with 134 independents who are also NDP members or who joined the ruling party after they were elected.
President Mubarak, speaking to reporters after casting his ballot, criticised the way the NDP chose its candidates. He said that more than one candidate, running on the party's ticket, should be allowed to contest the same seat.
The NDP candidates, Mubarak said, were chosen "according to the whims of provincial secretaries. I think that in the future parties should not restrict themselves to a limited number of candidates per constituency."
As for the future of independent candidates who join official NDP ranks after they are elected, Mubarak said they will be accepted in the party's fold, provided they had not resigned or been dismissed. (see pp.3-7, 14&15)
Reported by staff
Related stories:
Ruling party 'out of touch' 2 - 8 November 2000
Tougher times for the NDP 26 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2000
Election surprises defy pundits 26 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2000
See Elections 2000
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