The Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie has challenged the legitimacy of the ruling regime, saying that Egypt has not seen a transparent election process since the 1952 revolution. Badie added that election results are always rigged and never reflect the choices of voters. In his weekly message, published two days ago on the Brotherhood's website, Badie said that electoral fraud has been preceded by legislation that violates the constitution and seeks to secure the ruling National Democratic Party's grip on power. Badie added that Article 76 of the constitution--which was amended in 2005--has jeopardized the principle of equal opportunity and granted the ruler a monopoly on all powers. Badie concluded that this has undermined the legitimacy of local councils, the Shura Council, and the presidency itself. "Around the world, if a ruler does not fulfill his pledges, the people do not elect him in the following election," said Badie."And so rulers take their voters into consideration. In our country however the ruler does not care about the people since he does not derive his legitimacy from them, but rather from election riggers." The Supreme Guide's comments come after the Brotherhood failed to win a single seat in last month's Shura Council (upper house) elections that were widely criticized as fraudulent. Several prominent opposition groups are considering a total boycott of the People's Assembly elections in November. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
