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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 16 - 22 November 2000 Issue No.508 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 16 - 22 November 2000 Issue No.508
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The new equation
By Gamal Essam El-DinThe results of the third stage, held in Cairo and seven other governorates, showed that the ruling National Democratic Party [NDP] continued the poor performance of the first and second stages. Elections 2000 were placed for the first time under full judicial supervision. But what promised to be a fair parliamentary election turned sour as the final stage ended on Tuesday. Clashes between voters and security forces claimed five lives on Tuesday, raising the number of election-related deaths to at least nine. Tens of others were injured.
The NDP fielded 164 candidates in the third stage, which began on 8 November, winning 72 seats but losing 92.
In the first stage, from 18 to 24 October which included nine governorates, the NDP won 57 seats and lost 91. In the second stage, which ran from 29 October to 4 November and included nine other governorates, the NDP won 42 seats but lost 92. The NDP's losses included nine chairmen of committees of the outgoing parliament, six NDP provincial secretaries, two former cabinet ministers and two former governors.
Following the first and second stages, the Interior Ministry announced that 134 winning independents had joined NDP ranks, or were NDP members running independently. This swelled NDP ranks to 233 seats. In the last stage, an additional 77 independents who won seats, plus 71 NDP winners, are expected to raise the NDP's share to 388 seats out of a total 444 contested seats. President Hosni Mubarak will use his constitutional right to appoint 10 MPs and most of them are expected to be NDP members.
In Tuesday's battle five seats went to three opposition parties: two to the leftist Tagammu, two to the liberal Wafd and one to the Nasserist Party. Two members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood running as independents won seats.
The final shape of the new parliament will be: 388 NDP members, compared to 410 in the outgoing Assembly, 17 Brotherhood members, seven Wafdists, six Tagammu members, two Nasserists, and one from the Liberal Party. Five independents who won seats have Nasserist tendencies and a sixth is an Islamist. This will raise the number of opposition members in the new parliament to 35, compared to 14 in the outgoing Assembly. Moreover, around 19 independent winners, compared to 30 in the outgoing parliament, will have to decide which way they will go.
The new parliament will also include eight women and three Christians, two of them Copts and the third a Roman Catholic. More women and Copts are expected to be among the 10 MPs appointed by President Mubarak. At least 25 business tycoons managed to win seats.
As surprising as the relatively poor performance of the NDP was the good showing of the Brotherhood. Out of 73 Brotherhood candidates, 17 won seats, compared to one in the outgoing Assembly. It remains to be seen what issues will be raised by the Brotherhood MPs in parliamentary debates. The group's deputy Supreme Guide, Maamoun El-Hodeibi, recently said that the Brotherhood will attempt to establish a political party.
The announcement is apparently based on the assumption that the Political Parties Committee, which is entrusted with licensing new parties, will find it difficult to object to granting 17 MPs the right to establish a party. The constitution bans the establishment of political parties on religious foundations.
The Brothers and leftists are likely to join hands in the new parliament to oppose normalising relations with Israel. "In this respect, we are ready to coordinate with the Brothers because I think that all Egyptians are against normalising relations with the Zionist enemy," said Nasserist Mohamed El-Badrashini.
Ahmed Abu Zeid, NDP majority leader in the outgoing Assembly, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the new parliament includes a balanced number of NDP, opposition and independent representatives. "This will greatly serve the cause of democracy in Egypt because all agree that this year's elections represent a major turning point in the nation's political and parliamentary history," Abu Zeid said. "I hope that the Brothers will realise that any attempt to play on religious sentiments to win popularity will be strongly confronted by all MPs. We can never tolerate involving parliament in trivial issues such as should women wear a veil or not or is music sinful or not," Abu Zeid said.
Right now, attention is focused on who will be the new speaker and who will replace the nine parliamentary committee chairmen who lost their seats. Most observers agree that Fathi Sorour will remain speaker for a third term.
Related stories:
Capitalising on the clampdown
The demise of politics?
Election or selection Necessary precautions
Legal nuances
Registering the aftershocks
See Elections 2000
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