CAIRO - An Egyptian minister has condemned international election monitors at the country's upcoming elections as an assault on national sovereignty. Minister of Legal Affairs and Parliamentary Councils Mofid Shehab said: “We will not allow foreign monitoring of elections in Egypt; we see that as an assault on the sovereignty of the State.” The United States and other countries had asked to allow foreign observers to monitor the November 28 parliamentary elections to guarantee a free and fair vote, but Egypt has repeatedly declined the call describing it as meddling in its internal affairs. “Rejecting foreign observers does not mean we intend to rig the polls. It shows we guarantee that Egyptians are a real substitute for international monitoring,” DPA quoted Shehab as saying. Earlier this month, President Hosni Mubarak repeated that Egypt would hold “free and transparent” parliamentary elections with help from local civil society organisations. International observers have never been permitted to monitor elections in Egypt, and previous elections have been marred by fraud and intimidation of opposition candidates and voters. Shehab, who was speaking at a rally in the coastal city of Alexandria Friday night, said he did not expect the candiates of the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned opposition group to win the same percentage as in the previous elections, saying that they grabbed 88 seats because other parties did not participate. The Brotherhood won nearly a fifth of the total in the People's Assembly in the 2005 elections, making them the largest opposition bloc in Parliament. More than 5,000 candidates are vying for 508 seats in the poll, which is seen as a litmus test of how next year's presidential election will unfold. It is largely expected that the ruling National Democratic Party will maintain its grip on Parliament.
