The first stage of the Shura Council's mid-term elections ended with an easy victory for the ruling National Democratic Party. Gamal Essam El-Din reports Official National Democratic Party (NDP) candidates cruised to relatively easy victories in the first stage of Shura Council elections that took place earlier this week. The NDP candidates were mainly competing against other members of the NDP who were running independently after the ruling party declined to nominate them. Very few opposition candidates took part in the contests for seats on the council -- a consultative upper house with no legislative powers. Of the 162 candidates running for 32 seats in 22 constituencies, only three were from the opposition Wafd and Tagammu parties. The NDP fielded 35 official candidates, while the remaining 124 were so- called "NDP independents". The NDP ended up winning 19 of the seats. The fate of the remaining 13 will be decided in a 29 May run-off between 13 official NDP candidates and 13 NDP independents. Sunday's voting took place in eight governorates: Giza; Qaliubeya; Menoufeya; Beheira; Fayoum; Beni Suef; Qena; and North Sinai. Turnout was low, reportedly ranging on average from two to seven per cent. The vast majority of these were members of the NDP. Some candidates complained that voter lists were rife with irregularities, despite the fact that the elections were being held with full judicial supervision. Independent political observers said the NDP's sweep was a direct consequence of the fact that most opposition parties boycotted the elections. This has traditionally been the case, since much of the opposition sees little value in spending money or effort on getting a candidate elected to what they view as an ineffective body. Even the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which has always sought a role in elections of any sort, found itself having to deal with the sudden arrest of 60 of its most prominent members just two weeks before the elections took place. Analysts also said that because most Egyptians are unaware of the Shura Council's role, they tend to ignore elections for its seats. A recent Al-Ahram's Centre for Political and Strategic Studies report indicated that while a great many people have no clue regarding the difference between the Shura Council and the People's Assembly, an equally large number are not even aware of the council's existence. The low turnout was also attributed to people's interest in other matters such as the current People's Assembly investigation into Egypt's failure to obtain a single vote in support of its bid to host the 2010 World Cup, and the Arab summit that recently took place in Tunis. Agriculture Minister Youssef Wali -- the party's deputy chairman for domestic affairs -- provided an official NDP reaction to the landslide. Wali lauded the elections as being marked with integrity, as well as voters eager to support the NDP. Interior Ministry officials described the elections as free of any irregularities or disturbances. The most prominent NDP victor was Safwat El- Nahhas, who also serves as secretary-general of the cabinet. In Giza, Wali's nephew Sherif Wali retained his seat. The two Wafd Party candidates (Mohamed Mahrous and Fawzi Abbas) lost to their NDP rivals for the Giza seats they were contesting. The three women who ran lost, and no Christian candidates ran at all. The second stage of the council's elections will begin on 3 June, with candidates vying for 26 seats in eight governorates (Sharqeya, Daqahleya, Damietta, Gharbeya, Suez, Sohag, South Sinai and the Red Sea), and run-offs scheduled for 9 June. The third stage will take place on 13 June, with candidates running for 30 seats in the remaining eight governorates (Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Kafr El- Sheikh, Minya, Assiut, Aswan and Marsa Matruh). Run-offs will be held on 19 June. President Hosni Mubarak will also be appointing 44 members to the new council. Among those previously appointed by Mubarak whose membership will expire next month are two cabinet ministers: Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister Mufid Shehab; and the Tourism Minister Mamdouh El-Beltagui. Another cabinet figure, Minister of Waqf (Religious Endowments) Hamdi Zaqzouq, was scheduled to run for the Shura Council seat from the Daqahleya district of Talkha in the second stage. On Monday, Interior Minister Habib El-Adli announced that Zaqzouq had already won the seat, since no one else is running.
