CAIRO: While the Muslim Brotherhood, which has enjoyed unprecedented success during Egypt's parliamentary elections, gained no seats outright in the Dec. 1 vote, some 30 of their 49 candidates running in the third stage will take part in the run-offs. The Brotherhood candidates, who are running as independents given that their organization is currently outlawed, have gained 76 out of 444 seats so far during the first two phases of the parliamentary elections. They have an eye on still more gains during the third round, hoping to obtain 100 seats - a significant increase when compared to their presence in the outgoing parliament. Ten million Egyptians voted for the remaining 136 seats during the third round. The surprising performance by the Brotherhood has raised tensions, leading to more violence at ballot stations during the second round of the parliamentary elections, with violence also prevailing during the third round. This violence comes on the heels of somewhat government-permitted leeway for the outlawed movement to campaign freely for its candidates prior to the opening of the voting process. In a Brotherhood statement, Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef said that 500 supporters of the movement had been arrested during the 72 hours preceding the voting on Dec. 1. "[The arrests] are an initial falsification of people's will, he said in the statement. The Ministry of Interior, meanwhile, said in a statement to semi-governmental newspapers that the arrests are not a new approach and have always taken place to prevent illegitimate activities of the banned group. The statement said that the issue of the arrests has been exaggerated and confused with the electoral process, when in fact they are ordinary legal reactions to the Brotherhood's illegal status. In addition, some of those arrested have allegedly been involved in acts of violence impeding the electoral process, such as burning car tires next to ballot stations and breaking ballot boxes during the third round, according to the ministry's statement. "The [arrest] procedures took place as the secret organizational activities of the group corresponded with the electoral thuggery that took place, and that is why such procedures were important to stop frightening other candidates and voters, said the statement. During the third round of the elections, taking place in nine governorates, many violations were reported, such as riot police armed with rifles, sticks and teargas launchers cordoning off polling stations to prevent voter access in the Sandoub village of the Nile Delta. The village is the hometown of Saber Zaher, a strong Muslim Brotherhood contestant. Civil society monitors in the Delta cities of Damietta, Daqahliyya and Kafr El-Sheikh reported similar riot police cordons. The Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession, with monitors in ballot stations across the nation, reported that thugs transported by private microbuses have been seen in Damietta. As soon as they emerged from the buses, they began frightening voters and driving them away from ballot stations.A few reporters and monitors also stated that they had been denied access to ballot stations, despite holding official accreditation granted by the State Information Service and the Ministry of Justice. The gravest incident of violence took place in a Kafr El- Sheikh ballot station, when amidst teargas and stone throwing, police fired upon and killed one campaigner and wounded many others. Al- Akhbar, the semi-governmental daily, said the man killed was a ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) supporter. The NDP has so far secured 201 seats over the past two rounds; maintaining a twothirds majority in parliament would require winning some 90 additional seats in the final round. The parliamentary elections have been a stage of confrontation between the NDP and the Muslim Brotherhood, leaving the secular opposition with significant losses.Very few of the numerous candidates of the secular opposition who ran under a unified umbrella of the National Front for Change succeeded in their constituencies. Combined with independent candidates, they won a total of 25 seats. On Dec.7, the date slated for the third round's run-off, the curtains will come down on the parliamentary contest that originally began on Nov. 9, leaving a changed political reality consisting of a People's Assembly with the largest opposition presence since the 1950s.
