Polling stations will open their doors today to 40 million eligible voters in an election which is expected to yield a major win for the National Democratic Party (NDP). The NDP hopes its strong parliamentary majority will pave the way for its success in the 2011 presidential election in which President Hosni Mubarak is expected to run for his sixth presidential term. Given heavy restrictions on election monitoring and widespread anticipation of rigged elections, voter turnout is expected to be low. Egyptian opposition groups have complained of systemic suppression by the security apparatus, including arrests and banning of publicity ads. Egypt has banned international supervision of elections and announced that, although it will permit local NGOs to monitor the voting process, all monitors will be prohibited from entering polling stations. The High Elections Commission declared reporters and media professionals prohibited from photographing polling stations. The commission permits them to only cover the election only upon obtaining written authorization. Eighteen parties are vying for seats in parliament, but analysts say the real competition will take place between the NDP, the liberal Wafd Party and the Muslim Brotherhood, who is fielding a combined total of approximately 130 candidates, including thirteen women vying for seats exclusively designated for women under a quota system that covers 26 governorates. Election campaigns have seen clashes erupt between competing candidates with three campaigners killed and dozens injured thus far as some candidates resort to intimidation and violence. Analysts predict the Muslim Brotherhood will win under 20 seats and come in third, following the Wafd Party. The Brotherhood secured the second largest number bloc in parliament in 2005 when it won 88 seats. The ruling NDP--in power since 1978--is not expected to lose its parliamentary majority and has been accused of using the state's financial resources to fuel its publicity campaigns.
