CAIRO - The parliamentary seat race in the 2010 elections was full of surprises, according to local observers. Rigging, bribery and flawed administrative procedures roused the ire of thwarted hopefuls. The final shape of the Parliament where the ruling National Democratic Party NDP grabbed a sweeping majority of seats (423 out of 518) also raised eyebrows. The results have been contested by opposition and independent candidates, and dissidents of the NDP have threatened to file lawsuits in international courts, claiming election rigging. The Higher Administrative Court has upheld the verdicts issued by courts across the country, stating that the elections were null in more than a hundred constituencies across several Governorates. These verdicts causedstrong reactions by the opposition parties, calling for the dissolving ofParliament. They stated that rigged elections would necessarily lead to an unconstitutional parliament. A large campaign has already started, refusing to recognise the new Parliament. A coalition of Egyptian rights groups has also urged President Mubarak to intervene in person and use his constitutional rights to dissolve the parliament, in a bid to prevent the dominance of one authority (executive) over the other (legislative). Those who are considering the possibility of international arbitration are worried about the country's image abroad and the poorly supervised performance of the NDP Government. They say the incumbent Government and its party have disgraced the nation by fraudulently achieving a landslide win. According to professor of international law Ahmed Refaat, the threat of pursuing international arbitration is a form of political pressure on the Egyptian Government. He assured Al Ahrar opposition daily that this would not fall within the jurisdiction of international courts. Resorting to these would be a political rather than a legally recognised measure. He pointed out though that complaints could be filed with the International Council for Human Rights. “However, its decisions are not binding”, he explained, stating plainly that the opposition would not be able to get verdicts to the effect of nullifying the elections, if it were to seek help in international circles. In his personal view such threats would create a bad reputation for Egypt. He added that the opposition was entitled to seek local justice, whereby verdicts were liable to execution. The integrity of the local judiciary system was untouchable, said Ibrahim Saleh, former deputy head of the Cassation Court. He was also against taking the case to international courts, since the Egyptian judiciary was the pride of each and every citizen. In the midst of such furore about the validity of the newly elected legislature, President Mubarak issued a Republican decree appointing ten new parliamentarians recently.
