The Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions (EFTU) has vowed to mobilize millions of workers to vote in Sunday's parliamentary elections. Egyptian opposition figures have routinely contended the poll will be rigged. Hussein Megawer, head of the EFTU and a National Democratic Party (NDP) leader, said the workers' votes will determine the outcome of the poll because they constitute the majority of the population. In statements to the press, Megawer said the EFTU has decided to form committees throughout Egypt to organize the movement of workers from their workplaces to the polling stations on election day. Opposition groups and NGOs, meanwhile, accuse the government of planning to mobilize approximately five million state workers to secure an NDP victory. They further accuse the government of intimidating state employees by threatening salary deductions if they do not give their votes to the ruling party. Experts also say the government is giving civil servants special bonuses to encourage them to vote for the NDP. Most labor leaders in Egypt are also members of the NDP, according to analysts, who say the ruling party has nominated a large number of chairpersons of state-run institutions in the election as a means of securing the workers' votes. Megawer had also decided to postpone labor elections--originally scheduled for the end of 2011--until the end of 2012, in order for workers to give their full support to President Hosni Mubarak in the presidential race slated for the end of 2011. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
