Egypt News

Egypt's Shura Council election was held on 11 June 2007 and 18 June 2007.
From a total of 264 seats 88 are up for election every three years, another 44 are appointed by Egypt's president Mubarak.
There were 587 candidates competing for the 88 seats in 24 provinces.

The main parties running were the Egyptian National Democratic Party NDP (109 candidates) and the opposition Muslim Brotherhood group (whose 19 candidates were standing as independents, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak having had failed in an attempt to disqualify 17 of them).

The elections were being boycotted by the New Wafd Party and the Nasserist Party
Egyptian media reported that 11 of the 88 seats were won uncontested by the NDP.

Egypt's NDP won 70 seats in the first round of the election, while one seat went to an independent and one to the National Progressive Unionist Party (commonly known as Tagammu). Turnout was reportedly 23 percent.

Of the 16 seats determined in the second round, the NDP won 14 while independents won another two, resulting in a total of 84 for the NDP, three for independents and one for Tagammu.

Violence on Election Day led to the death of a supporter of an independent candidate in Egypt's province of Sharqia after fighting with supporters of the NDP.

Egyptian police detained more than 200 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, including as many as 100 on Election Day, in the last month as part of a crackdown against the opposition group in the lead up to Shura Council elections.

The detainees, who include six candidates for the elections, are accused of membership in a banned group, campaigning before the official start of the campaign period, and using religious slogans.

The Brotherhood campaigned under its traditional “Islam is the Solution” slogan despite a recent constitutional amendment banning any political activity on a religious basis.

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 1,000 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were detained between March 2006 and March 2007, and over 800 are currently imprisoned.

Egypt's Shura Council Election, 2007

EGYPT NEWS