Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CAIRO8990
2005-12-01 16:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Cairo
Cable title:  

EGYPT: THIRD ROUND OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Tags:  PGOV KDEM ASEC EG 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 008990 

SIPDIS

NSC STAFF FOR SINGH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM ASEC EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: THIRD ROUND OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
MARRED BY VIOLENCE AND BLOCKADES OF POLL ACCESS

REF: CAIRO 8786 AND PREVIOUS

Classified by DCM Stuart Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 008990

SIPDIS

NSC STAFF FOR SINGH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM ASEC EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: THIRD ROUND OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
MARRED BY VIOLENCE AND BLOCKADES OF POLL ACCESS

REF: CAIRO 8786 AND PREVIOUS

Classified by DCM Stuart Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) Egypt's third and final round of parliamentary
elections got underway on December 1 amid reports of hundreds
of arrests of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) supporters. Polling
stations in the areas visited by emboffs tended either to be
calm amid very light turnout, or cordoned off by security
police who allowed inconsistent access by voters,
particularly those who appeared to support the MB. There
were multiple confirmed reports of clashes of rival
supporters as well use by the security forces of tear gas and
rubber bullets. One supporter of the small Karama Party
appears to have been killed in Kafr El-Sheikh. Results will
likely begin to trickle out on Dec. 2, but as with the first
two rounds, we expect many of the races to go to run-offs,
which are scheduled for Wednesday, December 7. End summary.

--------------
What's in Play
--------------


2. (C) Round three of the parliamentary elections included
the Delta governorates of Kafr El-Shaikh, Daqahiliya,
Damietta, and Sharqiya; the Upper Egypt governorate of Sohag;
the Red Sea Governorate; and North and South Sinai. Emboffs
visited all of the Delta governorates on December 1, since
they are home to the most races, voters, and MB challenges to
the ruling NDP. Nearly 2000 independent domestic monitors
associated with the three major monitoring coalitions were
also in the field. Finally, about 18 NDI surveyors assessed
the third round races.


3. (C) The December 1 contests featured approximately 1700
candidates running for 136 seats in 68 separate
constituencies. The ruling NDP fielded one candidate in each
of the races. MB candidates, nominally running as
independents, challenged in 49 of the races. Registered
opposition parties, including the Wafd, Tagamua, Karama, and
Nasserist parties fielded a smattering of candidates. The
remaining 1500 or so candidates comprised a motley collection
of various NDP dissidents (i.e., local heavyweights who did
not secure the party's nomination but decided to run

anyway--and who will likely rejoin the Party if they win) and
a much larger number of unknowns.

--------------
Key Trends on December 1
--------------


4. (C) Access: Many polling stations visited by Emboffs in
the Delta on December 1 appeared open and calm amid light
security and a light turnout, albeit with a corresponding NDP
presence. Most rural polling stations were calm. Other
stations in urban areas where MB candidates were running,
however, were under tight control of the security forces,
which formed cordons around the stations.

--In Zagazig, capital of Sharqiya, turn out at mid-day was
very light at the polling stations we visited. At several
stations, young male supporters of NDP candidate Mahmoud
Khamis were gathered outside the gates, dining on lunches
provided by the candidate. The supporters, who were all
wielding sticks, told Emboff that they did not expect any MB
voters to visit their polling stations.

--Also in Zagazig, Emboffs made several visits at different
points over the course of the afternoon to the station at the
Nassiriya Elementary School, which had been cordoned off at
mid-day after a scuffle inside. (Incumbent MB Independent
Mohammad Morsy, who has been a GOE critic in parliament for
the past five years, was one of the candidates on the ballot
at the Nassiriya station.) Dozens of uniformed riot police
formed a cordon around the station. Inside the cordon,
another thirty or so plainclothes officers brandishing clubs
and radios waited in reserve. Some voters presenting valid
ID cards were being allowed through the cordon, but others
were turned away. One bearded man, yelling "God is Great,"
was ejected from the polling station while emboff watched.

--Emboff in Damietta reported that polling stations in areas
considered NDP strongholds appeared to be opening and
functioning. Stations in MB areas, however, were only
inconsistently open by mid-day. NDP activists in Damietta
were issuing chits to NDP voters which appeared to allow
these voters to cross the police lines at a number of
stations in Damietta.
--Emboff in Daqahiliya noted also that police cordons around
many urban polling stations appeared in some cases to be
enabling access by NDP voters and discouraging MB
participation.


5. (C) Violence: There were numerous scattered reports of
violence over the course of the day. Most seriously, as of
1800 local time, it appears that at least one supporter of
the Neo-Nasserist Karama (Dignity) Party was killed during a
clash with security forces in Kafr El-Sheikh. Unconfirmed
reports also suggested that Hamdeen Sabahi, a Karama
leader/candidate had also been hospitalized with injuries
suffered in the melee. In addition, we are aware of the
following other incidents:

--In Mansura, capital of Daqahiliya, a New York Times staff
photographer (protect),reported that he was chased away from
a closed polling station by unidentified thugs bearing
machetes.

--In Kafr El-Sheikh, police briefly detained a reporter for
Al-Jazeera, and released him after smashing his camera.

--At various polling stations around Daqahiliya, emboff
observed multiple clashes and high tensions between
supporters of various candidates as well as police clashes
with and arrests of MB supporters.

--------------
Domestic Observers Dismayed
--------------


6. (SBU) Key domestic monitoring groups funded jointly by
USAID and MEPI both issued press releases sharply critical of
the day's events. The Independent Coalition for Elections
Monitoring (ICEM) said that the arrests of more than 600
opposition supporters (mostly MB) in the 48 hours prior to
December 1 "adversely affects the credibility of government
actions." ICEM also noted that several of its observers had
been warned by unknown persons not to pursue their monitoring
work. ICEM also noted the following:

--an up-tick in denial of access by ICEM observers to polling
stations by GOE officials.

--three separate beatings of ICEM observers in Kafr El-Sheikh
and Sohag, two by security forces and one by NDP activists.

--arrests of MB "poll watchers" in Kafr El-Sheikh and Sohag.

--multiple reports of "disenfranchisement of opposition
voters" due to cordons and other denial of access by the
security forces.


7. (SBU) The Egyptian Association for Supporting Democracy
(EASD) issued similar critical findings, condemning "the
increasing security interventions that have led to the
closing of polling stations, violence, and the ultimate
exclusion of civil society monitors, candidate agents, and
citizens from the voting process."

--------------
Comment
--------------


8. (C) The defining characteristic of round three so far
appears to be an increase in security force cordons outside
polling stations, which in turn appear to have limited access
to the polls by non-NDP voters. The ultimate effects of
these tactics will only be clear once the results are
announced, but the opposition and domestic monitors are
already crying foul. End comment.


RICCIARDONE