Elections kick off in Egypt

2005-08-17 11:12

Cairo - Egypt's first competitive presidential campaign was to kick off on Wednesday, with incumbent Hosni Mubarak likely to sweep aside all opponents and in the face of a fresh wave of terror attacks.

Under international pressure, the 77-year-old Mubarak has for the first time in his 24-year rule allowed rivals to challenge him in a presidential election.

Among the nine challengers, reform champion Ayman Nur and liberal Wafd party leader Numan Gumaa stick out as the most high-profile but a fifth term for Egypt's "rais" looks guaranteed.

The election has nevertheless yielded some novelties on the political scene, with parties arguing over whether or not to boycott the poll and civil society groups making an unprecedented push to monitor it.

Tide turning on Mubarak

The run-up to the vote has witnessed a string of anti-Mubarak street demonstrations unthinkable only a year ago, and the large portraits of the leader that used to dot the country's roads and buildings are disappearing.

However, rival Nur said earlier this month one of his supporters had been shot and wounded in the foot by police while he was putting up campaign posters in a Cairo suburb. The interior ministry denied the incident.

Mubarak retains the privilege of having the Islamic crescent as the symbol for his campaign, a logo that will appear on the ballots when an estimated 32 million Egyptians make their decision on September 7.

Many parties have complained that the conditions in which the poll will be taking place and the restrictions imposed on candidates wishing to challenge Mubarak will not allow for a free and fair election.

Fresh wave of attacks possible

Two major opposition groups - the Marxist Tagammu and the Nasserist party -have called for a boycott of the poll, while the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood, which remains Egypt's main opposition force, has yet to make its position known.

Opposition groups have reported widespread fraud in previous elections, but the regime has so far rejected Washington's request for international monitors to be allowed in.

Analysts have also warned that a fresh wave of attacks in Egypt risks undermining the electoral process, by inhibiting the opposition and offering the regime reasons to maintain the 24-year-old state of emergency.

Egypt was hit by its worst ever terror attack last month, when suicide bombers wreaked havoc in the tourist-packed Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and killed some 70 people, including several foreigners.

The multiple attack resembled another string of deadly bombings in October further north in the Sinai peninsula, where another bombing on Monday wounded two Canadian peacekeepers and revived concerns over Egypt's security.

- AFP