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Muslim Brotherhood Boycotts Election |
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Written by tabligh
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Friday, 11 April 2008 |
Egypt's main opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, has called on all
Egyptians to boycott local council elections due on Tuesday.
"We call on the Egyptian people to boycott the municipal elections because of
the executives' disregard for justice," Brotherhood number two Mohammed Habib
told AFP. "We are boycotting" the election, he said.
The Brotherhood was set to field just 20 candidates after a wide-ranging
government crackdown left more than 800 would-be candidates behind bars or
blocked from registering.
The political move by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is officially outlawed but
represented by independent MPs in parliament, reinforces the authoritarian
nature of the Mubarak regime. The elections are seen widely to be a cosmetic
exercise with 90% of seats certain to go to President Hosni Mubarak's National
Democratic party.
The president is 79 and in his fourth consecutive term of office and has no
designated successor, though he is widely suspected of preparing to hand power
to his son Gamal, a businessman.
The municipal elections rarely drew fierce competition in the past, but this
year's poll will be the first since a 2005 constitutional amendment required
independent candidates running for the presidency to secure the backing of
municipal councilors.
Presidential candidates need the support of at least 10 elected members of every
local council in at least 14 provinces for their nomination to stand.
The Brotherhood has said the government is eager to avoid another electoral
setback after the movement won 20 percent of seats in parliament, where its
members sit as independents because of their outlawed status.
Once again, focus will shift to the close-friendship shared by Mubarak and the US.
With Bush's declared project being the spread of democracy in the Middle East,
the hypocritical silent approval by the US for actions of "allies" like
Mubarak will further undermine the standing of America in the eyes of the
Arab street.
Source: AIM News
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