CAIRO: Egyptians were angry on Monday, a day after the country voted in Parliamentary elections. Almost all opposition leaders lashed out the government, saying there was widespread voter fraud in the election. Frustrated protesters set fire to cars, tires and two polling stations in riots that erupted in the country on Monday after the government refused to recount votes and barred a number of votes from being counted. Opposition candidate Gameela Ismail's entourage told Bikya Masr on Monday that had a number of boxes been counted, she would have forced a run-off against longtime ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) MP Hisham Mustafa Khalil. But the government refused, handing the win to Khalil. It was not an abnormal case across the country, where the top opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood cried foul. The Islamic group said that as a result of vote rigging, buying of votes and not counting a number of ballots, the group is preparing itself for the loss of all 88 seats it previously held in the Lower House of Parliament. “What can we do but tell the world what the government is doing,” said Mohamed Badr, a Brotherhood spokesman. He argued that the government “showed the world its true colors and anyone who ignores it doesn't care about peoples' voices or democracy.” Early estimates put voter turnout for Sunday's vote at around 25 percent, slightly lower than five years ago. Final results are expected to hand a solid majority of parliament's 508 elected seats to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of President Hosni Mubarak, are expected Tuesday. Violence marred the voting, as at least 8 reported deaths were stated by activists, blogs and local press on Sunday evening. The Muslim Brotherhood also reported the shutting down of its websites on the morning of the voting and resorted to SMS messaging in order to relay news to its supporters and media. Bikya Masr asked a senior police officer in the Qasr el-Nil district whether the elections would be fair. The officer replied, “I'm not allowed to tell you that.” Hamdeen Sabbahy, leader of the unlicensed Karama party, withdrew his candidacy before polls closed, said reports on Twitter, citing election irregularities. The Muslim Brotherhood's online portal has been blocked by three of the major internet providers in Egypt . Only Vodafone still allows the site to be viewed. The Brotherhood faced increased violence and repression in the lead up to Sunday's polls. The Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch, Joe Stork, has been detained in Gharbeya district according to Ikhwanweb, which strongly condemned the detention. Few expected the elections to be fair, but so many irregularities have been reported it is difficult to know where to start. Claims that candidates buy votes are among the most common allegations. At a downtown polling station, a man who identified himself as Mr. Mohamed told Bikya Masr he saw a representative from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) handing out money at the end of the street. “The head of intelligence should go catch him,” he said, “but he's drinking a cup of tea.” Mohamed also said he took a picture of a man giving 200 Egyptian pounds (approximately US $40) to an election official. At the Tahrir and Maarouf polling station in Qasr el-Nil, voters were instructed to sign their names on their ballots, a clear violation of any concept of a secret ballot. Two women told Bikya Masr they had signed their names after being told to do so. Independent candidate Gameela Ismail spent an hour arguing with election officials at the station in an attempt to uncover the facts. Ismail, who discovered early in the day that her number on the ballot had been changed, spent the day moving between polling stations in Qasr el-Nil in an attempt to monitor what was happening. Ismail was extremely frustrated with the events of the day. “For thirty years, the Egyptian population has endured poverty and oppression,” she said. “This oppression continues until this day. ** Bikya Masr's Sallie Pisch contributed to this report. BM
