WASHINGTON, DC - The US coverage of Egypt's Sunday election is characterised by deep cynicism and a growing consensus that the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) has won this political battle even before Egyptians had cast their votes. Last week, Time magazine described Egypt's election as “an impersonation of democracy”, stating “no-one expects Sunday's election to be fair or even functionally democratic anyway. Ballot stuffing, opposition arrests and voter intimidation are de rigueur in Egypt”. The article underscored the fact that around 770 candidates from the ruling NDP competed for 508 seats, which undermined the multi-party character of the election. “It's another sign of democracy being counterfeited, where real parties - even the one that rules- are an illusion, and where power and resources - not platform - are the ties that bind.” Recently, a Los Angeles Times writer has indicated that intra-NDP competition may not be bad news for advocates of democratic reform in Egypt, arguing that competition between the younger and older generation of the NDP may be a prelude to substantive political change. “It is within the ruling party, not in the tear gas of street protests, where the intriguing power plays over Egypt's future lie. The election campaigns have highlighted the widening divide between the party's old guard and the emerging young businessmen and moguls connected to Mubarak's son Gamal, a 47-yearold banker and NDP star many predict will succeed his father.” The article described the parliamentary election as a “dress rehearsal for a more poignant drama”, suggesting that its outcome may define the struggle between the ruling party's “old and new wings” over presidential succession and economic reform. In a similar vein, a Washington Post writer stated that the vote “could bolster the chances of Mubarak's son, Gamal, succeeding him, depending on which factions within the ruling party perform well.” A Washington Post editorial last Friday sought to bring the Egyptian election to the attention of US President Barack Obama, asserting that the continued dominance of the ruling National Democratic Party will leave a key US ally “vulnerable to nationalist or Islamist opponents”. It added that President Mubarak's dismissal of US calls for change in Egypt “is making the Obama administration look weak in a region that can be quick to act on such perceptions”. The editorial said that the Obama administration had failed to link Egypt's policies on repression and domestic reform to the $1 billion in aid that the country receives from the US every year. It called on Obama to “let Egyptians - and Arabs around the Middle East -know what he thinks about an election in which peaceful opponents are banned or beaten, votes are stolen and observers excluded”. Additionally, it has proposed that Obama seeks to link military-related aid to Egypt to its Government's human rights record and prevent Egyptian officials from exercising “a veto over which civil society groups receive US aid”.
