Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > One killed in polling violence as 'democratic' elections in Egypt lead to electoral gains for extremist Muslim Brotherhood
One killed in polling violence as 'democratic' elections in Egypt lead to electoral gains for extremist Muslim Brotherhood
December 1, 2005
Election Violence Kills One in Egypt
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5450958,00.html
Thursday December 1, 2005 10:01 PM
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD
Associated Press Writer
MANSOURA, Egypt (AP) - Violence wracked the final round of Egypt's troubled parliamentary elections Thursday, as police opened fire on crowds and used nightsticks and tear gas to bar voters from entering polling stations in opposition strongholds.
At least one person was killed and 60 were wounded, said Mohammed el-Ashqar, a campaign worker for a leftist opposition candidate.
Although voting proceeded without violence or intimidation in some areas, voters were met at the polls by lines of police in towns where ruling party candidates faced stiff competition from the opposition. The only people allowed through were those who said they would cast ballots for President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party.
In the town of Kafr el-Sheik, north of Cairo, police tried to disperse an unruly crowd with nightsticks and tear gas, bringing volleys of stones from the voters. Police then opened fire, el-Ashqar said, using live ammunition. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said rubber bullets were fired.
The Interior Ministry confirmed the death, saying the victim was a government supporter. It blamed the opposition Muslim Brotherhood group for the clash, saying its supporters attacked voters and judges monitoring the polls.
It was the second death in violence at the polls since voting began Nov. 9. The elections - considered a key test of Mubarak's openness to reform - have been plagued by battles between the government and the Brotherhood, Egypt's main Islamic group. The Brotherhood racked up seats in the two election stages last month, increasing its presence in parliament fivefold.
In other violence Thursday, men with clubs and knives attacked voters who lined up at a polling station in the Delta city of Mansoura, a stronghold for the Brotherhood.
"They are thugs rented by the NDP," said 18-year-old Amr Hammed Mansour, wrapping his bloodied head with a white bandage after the fighting.
Hamdi Sayyed said he was one of hundreds of people who tried to vote but were barred by ranks of police in Sandoub, a village outside Mansoura. "President Mubarak deceived me. I believed him when he talked about democracy but look at what is going on," he said.
In the nearby town of Bussat, dozens of men and women slipped by police blocking the entrance to the polls by clambering up ladders over the side wall of the building and entering through bathroom windows. Police later removed the ladders.
Under pressure from Washington, Mubarak's government has promised democratic reform in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation and a top U.S. ally in the region. The Brotherhood - which is banned but runs candidates as independents - was given considerable leeway to campaign in the early stages.
Violence and intimidation increased in the second round after the Brotherhood's strong showing in the first. Despite the turmoil, the Brotherhood has won 76 seats, up from 15 in the outgoing assembly. The NDP has won 201 seats, and other independent or opposition candidates have taken 25.
The last 136 of parliament's 454 seats were being contested in the final round. Runoffs will be held Wednesday in districts where no candidate gets at least 50 percent of the vote.
The voting has confirmed the Brotherhood's status as Egypt's most powerful opposition movement, drawing support not only from those who back its fundamentalist agenda but also those who see it as more responsive to their needs than Mubarak's party, which has dominated Egypt's politics for decades.
The Brotherhood calls for implementation of Islamic law, campaigning against alcohol and immorality and promoting the wearing of the veil for women. Its leaders have said they hope to eventually change Egypt's constitution to ensure an "Islamic basis" for government.
Still, it touts itself as a proponent of moderate Islam, unlike the more puritanical version enforced in Saudi Arabia, and insists it wants a democratic system.
The movement has been banned since 1954, but it has long been tolerated with restrictions. Mubarak's government has repeatedly refused to allow it to become a legal political party, and detentions of its supporters are common.
More than 500 Brotherhood supporters were arrested earlier this week, the police said. About 1,300 Brotherhood loyalists are believed to have been arrested since the elections began. Many have been released, but hundreds are still in custody.
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| http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10274825/ | |
Egyptian police clash with voters, killing one
Some polling stations closed after Islamic party fares better than expected
SANDOUB, Egypt - Riot police clashed Thursday with would-be voters, killing one person, and they closed off polling stations in several Muslim Brotherhood and opposition strongholds as Egypt entered the final round of its troubled legislative elections.
Police fired into a crowd in the Balteem district of Kafr el-Sheik, killing Gomaa el-Zeftawi, a fisherman, and wounding 60 other people, said Mohammed el-Ashqar, a campaign worker for a Nasserite opposition candidate.
Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Ibrahim Hamad confirmed the killing of el-Zeftawi, but did not give a figure for the wounded. Minutes earlier, Hamad had issued a statement saying that polling had "unfolded in a smooth and peaceful manner."
In one village, men and women determined to vote resorted to sneaking into the polling station, putting up ladders to climb over back walls — out of sight of police barring the entrance — and slipping through bathroom windows to get in.
Voting proceeded normally in some towns, but in two villages visited by an Associated Press reporter — one the hometown of a Muslim Brotherhood candidate, the other of an independent candidate — police were blocking voters. In some southern towns, voters were intimidated by lines of police outside stations.
"I'm calling on his excellency, the president, to appoint the members of parliament because no one has been allowed to vote. ... It would save the money wasted on elections," Sameer Fikri, a would-be voter in the village of Sandoub, said sarcastically.
Brotherhood gains spur clampdown
Under U.S. pressure to bring democratic reforms, President Hosni Mubarak's government gave the banned Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest Islamic movement, considerable leeway to campaign in the early stages of the three-part elections.
But police interference has intensified in the later rounds, after the Brotherhood scored unexpectedly large gains, increasing its representation in parliament more than fivefold.
Hundreds of people lined up in front of a school used as a polling station in Sandoub, 75 miles north of Cairo — the hometown of Brotherhood candidate Saber Zakher — but they were prevented from approaching by lines of riot police, armed with sticks, rifles and tear gas.
A police lieutenant said "I don't know" when asked why both polling stations in the village had been cordoned off. An AP reporter was barred from entering to ask the judges in the polling stations.
In the nearby town of Bussat, the smell of tear gas hung in the air as angry would-be voters shouted at police blocking the station. "There are no human rights here, only war and destruction," said resident Mustafa Mohammed. Behind the polling station, men and women clambered up ladders over the wall.
An independent candidate not connected to the Brotherhood, Faisal Ibrahim Hassanein, is running against a candidate from the ruling National Democratic Party in the Bussat area.
More than 10 million Egyptians were eligible to vote in Thursday's third and final round, where the last 136 of parliament's 454 seats were being contested. Runoff elections will be held Dec. 7 in districts where no candidate gets at least 50 percent of the vote.
Earlier rounds
In the two earlier rounds of polling last month, Brotherhood candidates won 76 seats, up from 15 in the outgoing assembly. The NDP has won 201 seats, and other independent or opposition candidates have taken 25.
The Brotherhood, which has campaigned under the slogan "Islam is the solution," has been banned since 1954, but it has long been somewhat tolerated. Its candidates run as independents, although their allegiance to the Brotherhood is known to voters.
The first-round vote and runoff saw little violence, but after the Brotherhood's strong showing, there was a crackdown in the second round and a runoff, with police and government supporters blocking or assaulting Brotherhood loyalists from some polling stations. At least one person was been killed.
The Paris-based press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, has condemned government-inspired violence and harassment, and Amnesty International has expressed concern over the second-round violence.
Hundreds arrested
More than 500 Brotherhood supporters were arrested earlier this week, police said. About 1,300 Brotherhood loyalists are believed to have been arrested since polling began on Nov. 9. Many have been released, but hundreds are still in custody.
On Thursday, voting was light but unhindered in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig. Voters walked into adjacent schools turned into polling stations — one for men, one for women — in a district where outspoken Muslim Brotherhood legislator Mohammed Morsi is seeking re-election.
Morsi, the leader of the Brotherhood-backed candidates in the outgoing parliament, has been a thorn in the government's side for the past five years. But the NDP appeared not to have made a large effort to mobilize voters, as it did in Cairo constituencies where significant Brotherhood candidates ran last month.
In Tahta, 280 miles south of Cairo, 500 police were on roads leading to the polling station. Voters were not denied access, but some said they were afraid to cross the police ranks.
"I heard that the police have arrested so many people, especially those who vote for Brotherhood," said voter Ahmed Mohammed Abdel Salam, who supported the Muslim Brotherhood.
In nearby Shatoura, large numbers of police were also outside the town's lone polling station. Police said they were there to prevent violence.
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