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'We've said it a thousand times. And it seems we have to say it one more time. We are totally independent of each other. The government is one thing; the National Democratic Party is something else altogether.' Mohieddin El-Labbad in the Egyptian weekly magazine Al-Musawwar; Saad Al-Hajou, in Lebanon's daily As-Safir, on the Egyptian parliamentary elections

"What I fear most is that the hope for political reform will be the biggest loser in the current elections." -- Fahmi Howeidi , Al-Ahram

"Thuggery is now an accepted governmental tool in elections used by the government party against those candidates who dare to compete against it." -- Gamal Badawi, Al-Wafd

"The pashas that steal this country blind and have starved its workers and employees are now buying the letter's votes." -- Nahed Farid, Al-Dostour

"The current regime was committed to granting President Hosni Mubarak a fifth presidential term in return for holding elections that put the premises of change in political representation." -- Jihad Al-Zein, An-Nahar

"Egypt is the very country that has driven the whole region into its current form of regimes, that is, a single leader, military bureaucracy." -- Abdel-Rahman Al-Rashed , Asharq Al-Awsat

"Egypt is failing the democracy test not because Egyptians do not understand politics as some of our officials insultingly suggest but because the government does not want it to succeed." -- Mona El-Tahawi, Asharq Al-Awsat