The United States, a key ally of Egypt and its largest provider of economic aid, announced its disappointment at the outcome of Egypt's parliamentary voting day, saying it was "dismayed by reports of election-day interference and intimidation by security forces” which are “cause for concern.” "We are disappointed by reports in the pre-election period of disruption of campaign activitiesof opposition candidates and arrests of their supporters, as well as denial of access to the media for some opposition voices," PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesmansaid in a statement on Monday. He said the results raised questions about the "fairness and transparency" of the process. The Egyptian government, which had previously rejected the “interference” of foreign election monitors, accusing Washington of trying to meddle with its internal affairs, has not responded to US critique, saying instead that the elections are “not yet over”. On the streets of the capital however, where a public still sensitive to the United States following the Bush reign is normally quick to retaliate to outside critique, reaction was not dissimilar to that of the US. This year's elections, which have been described as typical of an Egyptian soap opera by many, have taken the nation by surprise. Although it was widely believed that there had been back-room deals with some oppostion parties, especially Wafd, and it was anticipated that the Brotherhood presence would be brought down from its one-fifth handle, both the public and critics are “shocked” at the pulverization of the opposition by the NDP and its security apparatus and thugs. "There was no election,” said Bahey El-Din Hassan, head of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, a member of a coalition of rights groups that monitored the vote. “There was only chaos.” “We all knew there would be violence and malpractice, and we knew the government would do what it wants with the results, but we didn't expected it to be this bad. What the government did is a joke,” said Sameh Ismail, who tried to vote in Nasr City but “was given the run around by officials at the polling station, stopped from entering” and eventually gave up. Across the nation's 29 governorates – which hosted 45,000 voting stations this year - allegations of government antics to curb voters from casting their ballot were widespread. Facebook posts and twitter feeds are glutted with accounts of the days troubles. Voices are charged, frustrated at a system that they say doesn't respect them. “I tried and tried again,” said Lamia Mustafa, a housewife and mother of four who said this was her first attempt to vote. “It seemed promising that the government opened a quota for women, so I decided to vote this year. We all want change, and voting should be the starting point for that.” Mustafa, 39, said she was aggressively pushed by police at the voting station, told she couldn't enter, that it was “closed, not taking votes”. Returning several hours later, she was made to sift through “hundreds of pages of names”, not in alphabetical order, to find hers in order to cast her vote. “I was harassed, and eventually the papers were snatched from me, preventing me from finding my name. They did everything they could to prevent me from casting my vote.” The accounts of the day range from the mild to the jarring. Reports - both personal accounts and those of rights monitors - detail a day marred with brutality. The allegations of vote-rigging are equally scathing. Arabic daily newspapers Tuesday described the “thuggery” and “bribe-filled” elections as “the worst in [the nations] history”. Human rights groups and informal election monitors have released reports detailing rampant violence and “fraud”. Opposition candidates have said they renounce the elections and are withdrawing their candidacies, many of them announcing they are unsure if they will contest the run-offs. And in figures released independently by the government, monitors and the opposition, numbers - of turnout, votes, and NDP versus opposition support - show titanic discrepancies. Moustafa Bakri, an independent who ran for the constituency of Helwan against Minister for State Military Production Sayed Mashaal, has publicly accused his NDP rival of fraud and bribery, saying the figures don't add up. "I know how many votes I got. We have an estimate as to how many votes Mashaal got. The official figure released for Helwan is 35,000 – far lower than total votes,” he said. “The election is definitely forged.” The shattered expectations of a "good" opposition - the Wafd - that the poll would bring up, and a "bad" opposition - the Muslim Brotherhood - that would be pushed down, has given rise to questions about what precisely the government has planned.
