Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Egypt Practises for Bigger Rigging


By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani

(Left: The Next Pharaoh? The son of the present one.)

"CAIRO, Jul 5, 2010 (IPS) - Egypt's recently concluded Shura Council elections were accompanied by widespread reports of serious electoral breaches by the ruling party. According to analysts and opposition figures, such voting "irregularities" bode poorly for upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections....

Another reason for rigging some Shura contests in favour of small and ineffectual opposition parties is the upcoming presidential election, said Rabie. "Article 76 of the constitution stipulates that opposition parties can only field presidential candidates if they are represented in the Shura Council. The five small opposition parties were each given one Shura seat to allow them to do this.

"Egypt will therefore be able to stage-manage a 'multi-candidate' presidential election, with a fall-guy nominee drawn from one of the weak opposition parties," Rabie added."

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