European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Monday accused Egypt for failing to conduct fair and free elections, saying that the government did not fully implement measures to enable independent observers and candidates' representatives into polling stations," and citing media restrictions as well as arrests of opposition activists. Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, said in a statement "unfortunately the implementation of these measures was insufficient." President's Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) overwhelmingly dominates the result tallies of the parliamentary polls, winning 420 of 508 seats while opposition party candidates won just 14. Independent candidates garnered 70 seats. Egypt's main opposition blocs, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and the liberal Wafd Party, boycotted the second round of the polls after the NDP took 209 out of 211 seats in the first round of voting on November 28, saying the vote was marred by fraud. The MB has called for the dissolution of the newly-formed parliament. Independent observers said on Monday that the vote saw widespread violations, including violence and fraud, that seriously challenge the legitimacy of the new parliament. "Both rounds of elections witnessed violence in the presence of security which directly resulted in the death of a number of citizens, the exclusion of candidates and their representatives, and attacks [on independent monitors]", the Independent Coalition for Elections' Observation said in a statement. "I was concerned by reports of irregularities, restricted access for independent observers and candidates' representatives into polling stations, media restrictions as well as arrests of opposition activists," read Ashton's statement. Ashton encouraged Cairo to respond to the concerns, saying the "EU will continue to call on the Egyptian government to permit domestic and international monitors to observe future elections, and remains ready to offer assistance in that regard."
