The loss of the Arab Democratic Nasserist Party was not surprising even to party members themselves, Mona El-Nahhas reports For the second time in its history, the Nasserist Party failed to gain a single seat in the parliamentary poll. What happened was a repetition of the party's devastating loss in the 2005 polls. As such, none of the party's 43 candidates will take part in the re-run, scheduled to be held on Sunday. Mohamed Abul-Ela, deputy chairman of the Nasserist Party and one of the big losers in the polls, attributes the party's failure to ill-begotten practices which marred the electoral process. "The NDP, with the help of thugs and the power of money, managed to oust prominent figures of the opposition," Abul-Ela said. Talking about his own experience at Al-Sahel constituency where he was running, Abul-Ela revealed that his NDP rival "employed election brokers who helped in buying votes, playing on the financial needs of the poor in this neighbourhood." According to Abul-Ela, the cost of an electoral vote at Al-Sahel reached LE100. Abul-Ela said his party regretted taking part in the polls which he described as being the worst in the history of Egypt's parliament. "Directing such a severe blow to the opposition in this way harmed the image of the governing system and the image of Egypt as well," Abul-Ela said. Before the polls, Abul-Ela said in press reports that he expected his party would gain no less than 20 parliamentary seats. Statements by Abul-Ela and other leading members of the Nasserist Party were viewed as proving what had been rumoured about a secret deal between the NDP and a number of opposition parties ahead of the polls. The word was that the opposition was tempted to take part in return for getting a handful of parliamentary seats. Political analysts said opposition participation was crucial to the regime as it was intended to lend the polls legitimacy. As such, analysts viewed such a poll as offering an unprecedented golden opportunity to the opposition in Egypt. However, contrary to their expectations, the opposition got nothing, making it almost impossible for any of them to regroup. For Abul-Ela, "what happened was a violent earthquake which will awaken the opposition and force it to re-build and reform itself." While putting the government under fire, Abul-Ela did not exempt his party from the responsibility for failure. "The endless divisions and internal disputes over which the party has been suffering for years caused it to weaken and were among the reasons behind its performance at the polls," Abul-Ela said, adding that some of the party's cadres joined hands with candidates from other opposition parties who were running against the Nasserist candidates. "Such unprecedented behaviour revealed the real magnitude of internal disputes which tore the party apart," he said. In fact, the Nasserist Party basically froze after its membership shrank to only a few hundred. The lack of democracy in running party affairs and the absence of an organised party structure led to further deterioration. The party's 84-year-old ailing leader Diaaeddin Dawoud still holds onto the chairmanship seat. Members holding senior posts do not attend the party's meetings, arguing that the secretary-general, Ahmed Hassan, in the absence of Dawoud, marginalised their roles at the party, leading many to quit the party's ranks.
