Hemeida's turn
Is the NDP playing favourites when it comes to choosing which election result complaints to follow up on?
It was only a month or so ago that Ragab Helal Hemeida, the sole parliamentary representative of the Liberal party, actively campaigned in favour of the assembly stripping Muslim Brotherhood MP Gamal Heshmat of his seat, reports Gamal Essam El-Din .
The reason for Heshmat's parliamentary demise? A Cassation Court ruling that the 2000 elections in Heshmat's district were flawed. But while other opposition MPs described the assembly's decision to act on the court's ruling as reflecting "the double standards adopted by the majority deputies of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP)," Hemeida said the decision was "a manifestation of God's will that we all have to submit to."
This week, Hemeida seemed to get a taste of his own medicine, when parliament decided to follow through on another court ruling that invalidated the results of the 2000 elections in his own district of Abdeen. Apparently resigned to his fate, Hemeida again described the assembly's decision as "a clear manifestation of God's will that we all have to submit to."
Both Abdeen delegates -- Hemeida and NDP MP Talaat El-Qawass -- lost their seats as a result of the decision, which did not come as too much of a surprise to Hemeida, who had recently been embroiled in a conflict with both Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and Interior Minister Habib El-Adli.
Hemeida, nonetheless, tried to downplay the bearing that conflict might have had on events. "I have no enemies," he said, "and even though some have tried to suggest that there's a problem between myself and Interior Minister Habib El-Adli, this suggestion is entirely unfounded. El-Adli is an efficient man who has managed to fight terrorism in Egypt quite successfully."
The Cassation Court ruling that led to Hemeida's and El-Qawass's downfall said that the 2000 elections in Abdeen were rife with irregularities, including security forces manipulating events to guarantee NDP candidate El-Qawass's victory.
"The elections were conducted in a climate of police terror," said the court. "Citizens were barred from voting unless they were in possession of an NDP membership card. The vote-counting process was conducted in a haphazard and secretive manner that eliminated any chance of real political reform."
The court ruling was the result of an appeal submitted by independent MP Mohamed Hassan El-Hefnawi, who ran against El- Qawass for Abdeen's professionals (fi'at) seat. Observers are arguing that parliament's decision to follow through on the court ruling was a clear example of the NDP trying to kill two birds with one stone.
While Hemeida -- considered a trouble- maker by the NDP for his constant attacks on Prime Minister Ebeid -- was an obvious target, the fact that the report recommended a re-election for both Hemeida's and El- Qawass's seats meant that no one could accuse the NDP-dominated parliament of trying to protect its own. El-Qawass, after all, belongs to the NDP.
Not everyone sees it that way, however. According to independent MP Hamdeen Sabahi, "the rapid approval of the court's report and the recent rigging of the Damanhour by-elections are bad omens signaling that parliamentary elections in 2005 will again fail to reflect the true will of the Egyptian people."
