 |
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 2 - 8 November 2000 Issue No. 506 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 2 - 8 November 2000 Issue No. 506
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
||
Egypt Region Interview International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Brotherhood ahead
CONTINUING their good showing, candidates of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, running as independents, achieved decent results in the Nile Delta province of Gharbiya, reports Gamal Essam El-Din. Out of 10 candidates, three garnered the highest number of votes, allowing them to qualify for run-off elections on Saturday.Mohamed El-Azabawi in Tanta, running for the professionals seat, received 4,800 votes while his rival, independent Ibrahim Awara, took 4,600. Hassanein El-Shura in Kafr Al-Zayat, running for the workers seat, chalked up 13,277 votes while his challenger, independent Salah El-Hassawi, took in 8,451. Ali Laban in Qotour, running for the workers seat, is the third Brotherhood candidate to qualify for run-off elections against Fikri El-Gazzar, a veteran independent with Islamist leanings. El-Gazzar was a member of the Brotherhood in the 1960s but they later parted company.
The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) lost a surprising seven seats and only three of its candidates won: Mahmoud Abu Zeid, minister of irrigation, in Nahtai, Mohamed Zayed in Samannoud, and Mohamed Marei in Mahalla. The NDP's remaining 16 candidates must enter the run-offs. The party's list of losers in Gharbiya was topped by businessmen Amin Hammad in Tanta and Ahmed Shaarawi, head of Al-Baladiya Sporting Club, in Mahalla.
Thirty-two candidates -- 16 NDP and 16 independents -- out of a total of 242 in the first round will be in the run-offs.
Equally surprising was the fall of all candidates belonging to opposition parties. The liberal Wafd had nominated 10 and the Tagammu, Nasserist and Takaful parties nominated one each. Partisan losers included Wafdist Ahmed Abu Ismail, a former minister of finance, in Samannoud.
Unlike the 1995 elections, marred by several acts of violence, the first round on Sunday was tame. However, two Brotherhood candidates, Ali Laban and Mohamed El-Azabawi, claimed that some of their supporters had been detained.
In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Fathi Saad, the governor of Gharbiya, said he had to intervene to get a number of Brotherhood supporters released. "However, I believe that security forces must arrest supporters if they become involved in acts of hooliganism."
Saad said the balloting had gone smoothly, with a light turnout of voters in the morning picking up later in the day. "I think the results of the first stage of parliamentary elections proved to all that President Mubarak's promise -- that balloting will be marked by integrity -- is genuine. That's why the turnout in Gharbiya was exceptionally high."
"Contrary to what some may believe, I don't think the NDP suffered a setback in the first stage," Saad said, referring to the results of the first stage of elections. The NDP won 39 per cent of the vote in the first stage, compared to 1.5 per cent for the leftist Tagammu Party and 0.075 for the liberal Wafd. "This means that the NDP is assured of a majority of seats in the next parliament, even if some of its winning members, who ran as independents, refuse to rejoin the party," Saad said.
In the wake of NDP losses in Gharbiya, Saad said that as governor, he will cooperate with all members of the new parliament regardless of their political affiliations. "Although I'm a member of the NDP, all deputies will be dealt with equally. I will have a meeting with the Gharbiya deputies because I'm keen that our relationship be based on mutual respect and primarily aimed at serving the interests of the people of Gharbiya." Members of the outgoing parliament for Gharbiya had been at odds with the governor.
Related stories:
See Elections 2000
