By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
"CAIRO, Oct 20, 2011 (IPS) - Egypt's interim government has begun accepting candidacy applications for parliamentary polls slated to begin Nov. 21. But as the country prepares for its first post-Mubarak elections, a number of political parties say they are considering boycotting the contest.....
"Election laws as they currently stand will allow NDP remnants to run in elections," leading union member Essam Sherif told IPS. "And I wouldn't put it past them to employ violence against their opponents and fix elections as they have in the past."
Barouma voiced similar fears, saying that participation in elections by NDP holdovers would lead to a "bloodbath", especially given the current security vacuum and the post-revolution "proliferation of weapons among the citizenry."
"The council has stated that if large numbers of people are killed in elections-related violence, it would suspend the polling," Barouma said. "And this would provide it with a perfect excuse to further extend the transitional period and remain in power."
Within the last three days, a number of SCAF and government officials have reiterated promises to enact laws banning Mubarak regime officials from contesting the polls - but only in cases in which judicial authorities had found the official in question guilty of corruption.
"The law in this form is totally worthless," said Youssef. "Corruption cases against former officials will take years. In the meantime, they'll win seats in parliament using bribery and coercion."
He added: "This will derail Egypt's ongoing revolution by allowing elements of the former regime, slowly but surely, back into power.""
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