Egyptian activists and NGO workers highlighted the role that the people and civil society will play in the upcoming parliamentary elections at a seminar held in the American University in Cairo on election monitoring, warning against the military's role in supervising elections. Human rights activist Nagad al-Borai said both the ruling military council and Egypt's government have an instinctive hostility against human rights. He demanded civil society organizations not involve themselves in politics or join any political coalitions, in order to maintain relations with all political trends. Borai described human rights organizations as the conscience of the nation. The government works to impede monitoring, according to Borai, who added that the Supreme Electoral Committee (SEC) issued only a few licenses that cannot manage the expansive electoral districts. Borai demanded that the people monitor the upcoming parliamentary elections. He added that the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) rejected most international election monitoring, despite increasing efforts to convince the military rulers of the importance of taking such a step. Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi will allow Carter Center and other 17 international monitors to monitor the next election. The activist asked what prompted the military rulers to allow the Carter Center to monitor the elections, while they prevented the EU, the Republican Institute, or Freedom House to do so. He said that Carter Center's history of election-monitoring is based on achieving political balances. Borai said that when the center certified the Sudanese elections as free and fair despite violations monitors witnessed, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's success served their interests. Ameen Ramzy, a member of the National Justice Committee in Egypt's Cabinet, expressed anxiety over insecurity and its effects on the electoral process. Ramzy demanded the military secure the next parliamentary elections. He warned of vote-buying and the use of executive authority to falsify election results. He demanded the people trust in the judiciary, adding that the 2005 elections were not falsified, despite violations. In 2005, the Muslim Brotherhood gained 87 parliamentary seats, while in 2010, the absence of judicial supervision opened the door for election fraud. Ghada Shahbandar, a member of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, demanded Egyptians participate in the next elections. She viewed participation as the main guarantee for a free and fair election. She also warned of any violent clashes that could take place during the elections, demanding people confront thugs, as they did during the revolution after the withdrawal of policemen. She said that military rule would not continue in Egypt, blaming political and cultural elites who abandoned their role to struggle for the rights of the Egyptian people. The different factions of Egyptian society should participate in drafting the next constitution, she said, stressing the need for Egyptian youth to be represented in the Institutional Committee of the Constitution.
