Egypt’s Election – Blight on a Nation

 Egypt’s opposition has dubbed the parliamentary elections invalid, claiming the ruling party secured its overwhelming victory by vote rigging and bribery. Others say the government broke a presidential promise to have free and fair elections because of lack of credible supervision.

Understandably, tempers have been running high as the NDP is even accused of ‘raping’ its own legitimacy by assaulting the law and constitution and using thugs to intimidate opponents’ supporters and using undemocratic measures like ballot stuffing, to gain victory, thereby massacring democracy and freedom in Egypt.

Despite the regime’s broken promises to conduct free and fair elections, the MB – the best-organized and largest opposition – refuses to resort to violence in its struggle to help the Egyptian people, declaring that anything built of falsehood is false.

So far the NDP has won 170 of the 508 seats outright with the opposition taking only a handful with the remaining seats to be decided on Sunday. All this time, the ruling regime has been guilty of trampling on the rights of its people and the elections have been described as farcical, illegal and a scandal. But while the rich get richer in Egypt , the disenfranchised masses continue to scorn the whole judicial and political process, relent to bribes and manipulation, or struggle for freedom.

Egyptians have been urged to reject the election results but just what they are supposed to do remains unclear. Government security forces are the only ones holding military power in the country with the capability to effectively suppress the people, meanwhile the opposition – firmly adhering to non-violence – relies on protests, rallies and awareness raising in a bid to successfully enter the next phase – the run-off next Sunday. Enjoying popular support and firm in its conviction that its cause is just, fair and noble, the MB continues unabated. However, whether or not they will succeed in mobilizing the intellectual capacity of the masses and put the regime in its place remains to be seen.