Al-Ahram Weekly Issue No. 250 7 - 13 December 1995
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

Police side story

Maj. Gen. Mohamed Al-Taher Hegab, first assistant for administrative affairs to the interior minister, explains the role of the police in the 29 November elections, rebuffing opposition charges. Hegab spoke to Jailan Halawi

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There was an upsurge in violence on election day. Does this mean that the police were lax in performing their duty?

We all know that the elections were contested by all the opposition parties, in addition to the ruling party and independents. The number of candidates was exceptionally high, with as many as 50 running in some electoral districts. Naturally, this resulted in fierce competition; that competition erupted into violence in some areas.

Now for the police role, I strongly believe that every single act of violence was dealt with by the police on the spot. But we act within the limits of the law and not according to emergency measures.

Throughout the nine hours of voting, all acts of violence were reported to the authorities immediately and those who were arrested were referred to the prosecution authorities. Moreover, I strongly believe that had the police forces not discharged their duty efficiently, the election process would not have been as successful as it was.

Reports in the opposition press claimed that supporters of Islamist candidates were rounded up on the eve of the elections. What truth is there in this?

It is an old trick for someone who has failed to achieve his target to blame his failure on someone else. Police do not arrest people for no reason.

I am not denying that people representing various trends were arrested, but this was because they violated the law or threatened the safety of others. No one is above the law. Even those who justified their use of violence by claiming that they represented a candidate were arrested and referred to the prosecution authorities.

Some opposition candidates complained that their poll-watchers were not allowed into the polling stations. Is this true, and is there any legal basis for such action?

Since we say that we act within the limits of the law, let us see what the law has to say about this matter. It states that each candidate has the right to delegate one poll-watcher inside the polling station. But it also states that there should be no more than six observers at any one polling station.

If there are more than six candidates, the law states that the head of the polling station should allow the candidates to reach a compromise on who should represent them or else he [the head of the polling station] should draw lots.

These procedures should begin at 8am and last no longer than 30 minutes. Anyone who arrives afterwards is not allowed to take part. We did not invent a new law... The reason for some of the problems that were reported was that people who arrived late did not respect the law and insisted on entering the polling stations. When they were denied entry, they started causing trouble, either by acting violently or claiming that the police had kicked them out.

This problem will not arise in the second round run-off, in which either two or four candidates will be running in each constituency.

An opposition newspaper published the picture of a police officer filling a ballot box, presumably with votes for NDP candidates. What is your comment?

First of all, let me stress that the elections are held under the supervision of the judiciary. In every principal polling station, a judge is always available. Why didn't the person who took this picture report the matter to the judge, who would have ordered the arrest of anybody violating the law and referred him to the prosecution authorities? The judge at the principal polling station is in charge, not the police.

Moreover, the law stipulates that the head of each polling station should affix his signature next to the name of each voter who arrives to cast his ballot, and that the number of signatures should be equal to the number of ballots in the boxes.

Policemen are allowed inside the polling stations only after the station's head has sealed the boxes with red wax. Their task is to guard the boxes and carry them safely to the vote-counting committees.

The picture of a policeman inside a polling station could have been taken at that time; otherwise, why did nobody complain to the authorities? Moreover, most of those who filed complaints did so after the polls had closed. Why didn't they complain at the time of the alleged violation, so that any possible police malpractice could have been dealt with?

An eye-witness in the Dokki constituency, where the Muslim Brotherhood's Maamoun El-Hodeibi ran against Social Affairs Minister Amal Osman, claimed that a box containing votes rigged in the minister's favour was brought in to replace another box? Could such a thing happen?

The vote-counting committee is made up of judges and headed by the chairman of a court of law. Is it possible that a man who holds such a high position, requiring complete integrity, would allow himself to watch while one ballot box is replaced by another?

This could never happen, but, assuming that it did, why didn't this eye-witness report the matter to the head of the committee, the nearest police station or even the local prosecutor?

There were reports that two women died of suffocation in the northern town of Baltim after police fired tear gas to disperse supporters of Nasserist candidate Hamdin El-Sabahi. Is this true?

This demonstration was staged after rumours circulated that El-Sabahi had failed. [He will be running in the second round]. About 1,000 of his supporters marched to the headquarters of the vote-counting committee to see what was happening. We warned them three times that they should disperse, but they refused.

Police had to use the next legal option, which is to fire tear gas canisters. As people started running, two elderly women fell to the ground and the others trampled over them. The two women died on the spot and others were injured.

In some constituencies, certain candidates were handing out cash to buy votes. What is the role of the police in this connection?

Cash is not handed out in the presence of the police. Moreover, many people take the money and do not vote for the candidate who gave it to them.

Some voters who went to the polling stations where their names were registered were not allowed to cast their ballots. Why not?

I will repeat again and again that the elections are held under judicial supervision. The police are positioned outside, not inside, the polling stations. Why didn't voters who were barred file a complaint with the judge, the nearest police station or the prosecution authorities? We announced those procedures more than once on the radio, television and in the newspapers.

Opposition candidates claimed that voters' lists included the names of dead people. Is this true?

Registration on the electoral roll is regulated by law. Under the law, when anybody reaches the age of 18 or dies, it is reported to us by the Civil Registry Department. But some people die outside Egypt or outside the districts where they are registered and their death is not reported to us. We cannot eliminate names from voter lists without being informed, either by families or through official channels.

Some candidates charge that their rivals stormed polling stations and rigged the votes. Why didn't the police intervene?

Any action of this kind was met with an immediate response from the judiciary, who excluded the votes from that polling station, and the police, who arrested the lawbreakers and referred them to the prosecution authorities.

Although the Islamists won around 60 seats in the 1987 elections, they fared miserably in the first round of these elections. How do you interpret this?

They do not have grassroots support or public sympathy. This is the most plausible interpretation. They made some gains in 1987 because at that time they had not resorted to violence. But after they became violent, they lost any sympathy they might have had.

A foreign press agency reported that at a polling station in Damietta children below 18 had voting cards and were allowed to vote. How could this happen?

My concern as a policeman is to secure the polling station from the outside. It is the task of the judge inside, and the police, to ascertain the identity of the voter.

I do not believe this report is true because voters are required to produce not only their voting card but also identity papers.

Reports in the opposition press claimed that some voters stuffed the boxes with numerous ballot cards, all marked for the candidate they supported. Is this true?

According to the law, the only ballots that can be considered valid are those printed at Al-Amiriya [government] printing house and carrying the republic's emblem.

If some people had ballots printed at other printing presses, then their aim was not to augment the vote in favour of their chosen candidate but to invalidate the votes in this particular polling station.

Interview by Jailan Halawi

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