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Voters criticize final runoffs of Egyptian elections

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November 15, 2000 

CAIRO-- (UNB/AP) - Police fired tear gas into crowds and prevented supporters of opposition candidates from voting in Tuesday's final runoffs, following the same course of action they have used in previous rounds of Egypt's parliamentary elections.

Police blocked polling stations and fired tear gas at would-be voters in the southern Cairo district of Maadi, while in the working class neighborhood of Shubra El Kheima in the north of the city, officers surrounding a polling station announced that there would be no elections.

"Is this the democracy that Mubarak is calling for?" asked Kamal Abdel Karim, who said he was prohibited from entering a polling station in Maadi. Other voters complained about confusion over voting rolls and polling stations opening late.

Egyptians in eight provinces were voting in runoffs for 125 parliamentary seats where no candidate won majority in last Wednesday's third and final round of voting. Two other stages of the elections were held in mid-October and early November.

Hundreds of voters in Shubra El Kheima clashed with police Tuesday when the polls - scheduled to open at 8 a.m. - did not open until 1 p.m. Police, some on horseback, attacked the protesters with batons and dogs and fired tear gas. Several people were injured and four children were taken to the hospital for gas inhalation.

In the Upper Egyptian town of Assiut, Brotherhood-backed Khaled Ouda said some veiled women voters had their voting identification cards confiscated and were physically harassed. Two of Ouda's deputies were also arrested, he said.

Associated Press reporter Sarah El Deeb was attacked in the Maadi district by two women. The women hit her, knocked her to the ground and snatched her notebook, purse and cellular telephone before police took the three to the local police station, where the women filed a report accusing El Deeb of stealing from them. El Deeb was later released.

At least a score of attacks on journalists covering the election for foreign and local media have been reported since voting began Oct. 18. The victims said they were beaten by policemen and plainclothes securitymen. Others have complained of being attacked by civilians. Local media reports have said some attackers are organized by candidates of the ruling National Democratic Party but operate under police protection.

Many of those who have complained about a lack of access to polls and police harassment were supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidates are running as nominal independents.

The Brotherhood calls for turning Egypt into an Islamic state, but unlike more radical Islamic groups, has forsworn violence to achieve than end. Though its candidates have won only 16 seats so far, the Brotherhood has proven to be the NDP's most tenacious opponent.

In several instances, voters have clashed with police who fired tear gas and in some cases, live ammunition, into the crowd. Seven people have been killed and dozens injured in clashes between security forces and rival factions.

The government has blamed opposition supporters for the violence and has denied any substantial irregularities in the voting process.

Opposition members and representatives of human rights and pro-democracy organizations had hoped that this year's elections would be freer and fairer than past elections after Egypt's highest court ruled in July that members of the judiciary must monitor every polling station.

Members of the Brotherhood and other opposition groups have said that inside the polling stations themselves, judicial monitors have ensured a fairer process, but complain that state security forces have continued to intimidate voters outside the buildings.

On Monday, an administrative court annulled previous results in nine constituencies, saying a lower court had already ruled that the candidates could not run for parliament for various reasons.

Prior to Tuesday's runoffs, the NDP had captured 265 of the 444 contested seats, legal opposition parties won 12 seats, and the rest have gone to independents, including 16 Muslim Brotherhood-backed candidates running as independents.

In 1995, the ruling NDP captured 97 percent of the seats in the People's Assembly amid allegations of fraud. Election-related violence killed 87 people and injured more than 1,500.