Diehards from Mubarak's defunct ruling party hope to make a comeback, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Islamist forces, led by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, who not too long ago many expected to dominate the parliamentary poll, will now face their arch rival -- ousted president Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) -- at the ballot box, albeit in a new guise. The 14 November Supreme Administrative Court ruling that members of the NDP could not be barred from standing in the elections has added a new element to the race. This time though, they will not be able to count on the security forces and other government institutions to aid and abet them in sweeping the polls, making Egypt's first post-revolution election as much a test of the extent of support these former bigwigs enjoy as it will be of the strength of the Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood, which had been prevented from winning a single seat in the 2010 legislative elections, has sought to avenge itself on the former ruling party by pressing the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to ban former NDP members, accused of corrupting the nation's political life, from contesting the current round of parliamentary elections. The court ruling stated that "stripping anyone of participating in political life represents an attack on rights that are protected and guaranteed in the constitution". NDP supporters cheered the ruling as it was announced, chanting "God is Great". Lawyer and former NDP MP Omar Haridi, who had earlier filed an appeal against the 10 November ruling issued by Mansoura's administrative court barring NDP members from contesting the elections, said that the latest judgement, which cannot be appealed, should be dedicated to "all honourable sons of this country". It is thought that up to 1,500 onetime members of Mubarak's now defunct ruling party have registered as candidates, standing either as independents or on party lists. "It would have been utterly undemocratic to exclude such a large sector of society from exercising its political rights," says Ali El-Moselhi, a pre-revolution minister of social solidarity and member of the NDP's secretariat-general. "The revolution was about giving the people the right to choose their candidates. It should be left to voters to decide who they want to represent them." The youth movements that kick-started the 25 January Revolution were as keen as the Brotherhood to see NDP stalwarts barred from standing. They have repeatedly complained that the SCAF not only dragged its feet over the issue, failing to investigate charges of political corruption levelled against many NDP members, but that the generals actively supported NDP candidates. "This verdict confirms that the SCAF is unwilling to take any action against corrupt former officials," said a statement issued by the 6 April Movement. NDP diehards, who enjoy strong familial and tribal ties across Egypt and who, after years at the helm have amassed enormous material resources, were in a position to cause a great deal of unrest, a tacit threat that was acknowledged even when unarticulated. "Attempts to exclude NDP veterans from joining the race only served Islamist forces," warned Haydar Baghdadi, one of several high-profile NDP veterans braced to compete in the elections. "We are massively popular in our districts. Everywhere we go we are hailed by citizens," he claimed. Baghdadi, a member of parliament since 2000, won the Cairo constituency of Gammaliya without a run-off round in the last election. Other NDP veterans competing in the first round of the ballot, scheduled to begin on 28 November, include Akmal Qortam, a business tycoon and the founder of the newly- licensed Conservative Party. Qortam will stand in south Cairo's district of Maadi and Helwan. NDP businessman Ibrahim El-Abboudi is contesting the Qasr Al-Nil district, which includes Tahrir Square. "I would support any legislation aimed at barring corrupt NDP officials from participating in political life," says Haridi. "But bans cannot be made on the basis of accusations alone. Such charges must be proven before action is taken."
