It remains to be seen whether the NDP's landslide victory is a curse or a blessing. Gamal Essam El-Din canvasses opinions The National Democratic Party's (NDP) domination of the parliamentary elections is likely, claim some analysts, to have come with a price tag. The party won 420 seats, or almost 83 per cent, of seats, up from 71 per cent in the outgoing People's Assembly. This does not take into account the 53 independents that were originally NDP members but contested the elections away from the party ticket. Factor them in and the NDP could claim a working majority of 93 per cent. The lack of any counterbalance in the People's Assembly, claims the opposition, has rendered the institution toothless and flawed. Ahmed Ezz, the NDP secretary for organisational affairs has been singled out for particular criticism. It was him, say the opposition, who manipulated the elections in the NDP's favour. Independent commentators, and even some NDP officials, have expressed similar reservations about the extent of the party's landslide. Amr El-Shobaki, an Al-Ahram political analyst, argues that "the NDP's sweeping majority means that Egypt's new parliament is a toothless watchdog". "It has become an NDP political club rather than a forum reflecting the wide spectrum of Egyptian political forces. A parliament without opposition, comprising a single party, will lack legitimacy in the eyes of many Egyptians. In all probability it will be used as a vehicle by the ruling party to pass unpopular legislation such as the anti-terror law without adequate debate. It represents a huge setback for political reform and democratisation in Egypt." El-Shobaki believes that important swathes of Egyptian society, including the opposition, Copts and young members of dissent movements like Kifaya, have been alienated by the election results. "This is an unhealthy development for political and parliamentary life in Egypt over the next five years. "A parliament with a credible number of opposition MPs would have lent the NDP more credibility." Surprisingly Hossam Badrawi, chairman of the NDP's Business Committee, agrees. "A parliament without any opposition bodes ill for political society in Egypt in general and for the NDP in particular." "Parliament's legitimacy," says Badrawi, "stems from its ability to reflect the whole range of political forces. In democratic societies ruling parties never win such massive landslides and do not impose a false majority on parliament." But such dissenting voices within the NDP are uncommon. Alieddin Hilal, the party's secretary for media affairs, argues that "the supervisory and legislative powers of parliament are measured by the quality of the performance of its deputies rather than by the number of opposition MPs". "Some 86 per cent of NDP deputies in this parliament are university graduates and the remainder hold post-graduate degrees," says Hilal. "This means discussions of laws and other daily life issues in Egypt will be objective rather than a stage for exchanging insults and hitting one another with shoes, as was the case in the outgoing parliament." "A parliament dominated by the NDP will make development and economy its greatest priority rather than dissipating energy in fruitless political squabbles and haggling." "The fact that it is NDP-dominated means it will be closely scrutinised by the public and the independent media," argues Hilal. "Parliamentary supervision will no longer mean virulent attacks on legislation regardless of its merits but simply because it was submitted by the NDP. From now on supervision will be based on overseeing the government's progress in implementing policies and laws passed by parliament." Ahmed Ezz said that "Brotherhood MPs in the outgoing assembly were more a stumbling than opposition bloc who objected for the sake of objecting. In the new parliament there will be objective discussion and laws will be passed smoothly if they enjoy the support of a majority of deputies." Beyond the opening session of the assembly lie the presidential elections. According to El-Shobaki the current make-up of parliament makes it impossible for any opposition parties to field candidates. "Given the lack of judicial supervision of the parliamentary elections it is unlikely that any significant political party will field a candidate to stand against the NDP though the ruling party might force some of the smaller parties to put someone up to give an unreal impression that there is a competitive multi-candidate presidential election." Moufid Shehab, minister of state and NDP assistant secretary-general for parliamentary affairs, said on Saturday that "it is too early to discuss the NDP's presidential candidate in 2011." "The NDP and the government are engaged in completing the implementation of President Hosni Mubarak's 2005 presidential election programme. When that process is in full swing most Egyptians will see that the NDP's presidential candidate will be the best choice irrespective of any illogical attacks."
