Shura elections promise stiff competition

As the 16 May mid-term elections of the consultative Shura Council approach, most opposition parties are deciding for the first time in 20 years to contest the ballot. Gamal Essam El-Din investigates
Candidates for the mid-term elections of the consultative Shura Council have from today until 23 April to register their names.
For the first time in the Council's 20-year life, the elections will be held in three stages. A decree issued on Sunday by President Hosni Mubarak designated 16 May through 12 June as the period for the three stages of the elections. Up for grabs are 88 seats representing 67 constituencies.
Each stage will witness elections in eight governorates. During the first state candidates will vie for a total of 30 seats in the governorates of Giza, Qalioubiya, Menoufiya, Beheira, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Qena and Northern Sinai. Run-off elections will be held on 22 May.
Starting 27 May, the beginning of the second stage, voters will go to the polls in Al-Sharqiya, Al-Daqahliya, Damietta, Al-Gharbiya, Ismailia, Suez, Southern Sinai and the Red Sea. On 2 June run-off elections will be conducted. Competition in this stage will focus on 25 seats.
As for the third stage, lasting from 7 until 12 June, it comprises the governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, Kafr Al-Sheikh, Al-Minya, Assiut, Sohag, Aswan and the New Valley. Thirty-three seats will be filled in this final stage. No elections will be held in the two governorates of Marsa Matruh and Port Said because the membership of their two representatives is valid until 2004.
In a departure from the previous one-day affair, the mid-term elections will be spread over three stages to comply with last year's ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court that the judiciary must supervise and monitor all principal and auxiliary polling stations. Some council members and government officials argued that the Court ruling does not apply to the Shura elections because the lawsuit concerned only People's Assembly elections. Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, however, decided to apply the court ruling to the Shura elections "with the purpose of quashing any potential disputes that could target the constitutionality of the council."
In preparation for the Shura elections, a new system was introduced this year by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) for choosing its candidates. The system, known as the "down-up" or the electoral community system, gave members of the party at district levels the absolute right to nominate in a secret ballot the candidates they believe have the best chance of success.
At first glance, this system appears to be a step towards increased democratisation. However, it was generally interpreted as an attempt by leading NDP officials to be able to deny responsibility for the choice of candidates before the party's chairman, President Hosni Mubarak, in the event that the candidates are unsuccessful at the polls.
The NDP has, in less than six months, suffered two humiliating defeats in the elections of the People's Assembly and the Lawyers' Syndicate, while the opposition parties and the banned Muslim Brotherhood Organisation, encouraged by judicial supervision and in an attempt to escape political isolation, have decided to actively participate in all types of polls.
On Tuesday, the NDP secretariat-general met to endorse the official list of its 88 candidates. According to this, the NDP is nominating two cabinet ministers. One of them, Minister of Manpower Ahmed El-Amawi, was a member of the outgoing People's Assembly and will run in the Cairo district of El-Zawya El-Hamra. The second, Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi, will be fielded in Suez City.
Also figuring prominently on the NDP Cairo list is businessman Farag El-Rawas. El-Rawas, an agent for a major Japanese auto-maker and a prominent sponsor of the election campaigns of People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour, will be fielded in Cairo's El-Sayeda Zeinab district. Nabih El-Alakami, chairman of the NDP Youth Secretariat, and Mohamed Ragab, NDP speaker in the Shura Council, will be fielded in Cairo as well.
Businessmen have a significant presence on the NDP ticket. Topping the list are Wagih Abaza, an agent for a French car company, and Zaki El-Sewedi, a manufacturer of electric cables. Both will be fielded in the Sharqiya governorate. The list will also include Saleh Awadallah, a chairman of a petroleum company in Hurghada (the Red Sea governorate), and Ibrahim Aglan, an owner of real estate companies. Both will run in El-Beheira governorate. Aglan, who was implicated last year in the "loan deputies" case, and Awadallah are two former deputies for the NDP in the outgoing People's Assembly.
In the 1998 elections, in which the NDP easily won all 88 contested seats, the number of candidates stood at almost 400. This year, the number of candidates is predicted to reach an unprecedented 700. The decision by opposition parties and the Muslim Brotherhood to plunge into the competition with many candidates is suggested as the reason behind this phenomenon. Additionally, many NDP members are expected to run as independents.
According to recent reports, the outlaweed Muslim Brotherhood will field some 20 candidates. Ali Abdel-Fattah, a Brotherhood official, announced that the group decided to contest the elections, undeterred by the fact that the council does not have legislative powers. To this figure should be added, according to initial estimates, a number ranging from 200 to 250 candidates who will be fielded by four opposition parties: the Wafd, Tagammu, the Nasserist and the Liberal parties. Independent candidates are expected to range between 200 and 400.
The Shura Council, established by the late President Anwar El-Sadat in 1980, is made up of 264 members. Two-thirds of them are chosen by secret ballot in general elections and the remaining third are appointed by the president. The council's functions include preparing reports on current issues and debating laws that are considered supplementary to the Constitution before they are sent to the People's Assembly. President Mubarak decided two years ago to empower the council to debate the state's annual socio-economic plan and budget.
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