RESULTS OF SHURA COUNCIL RUN-OFF ELECTIONS: AND

UNCLAS CAIRO 001880 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS NSC FOR WATERS AND DAVIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EG SUBJECT: RESULTS OF SHURA COUNCIL RUN-OFF ELECTIONS: AND THE WINNER IS ... THE NDP REF: A. CAIRO 1823 ¶B. CAIRO 1717 ¶1. (SBU) On June 19, Egypt's Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) announced the results of the June 18 Shura Council run-off elections, in which the remaining seventeen seats of the upper parliamentary chamber were contested (out of the total 88 seats up for election this year). Fourteen National Democratic Party (NDP) candidates won run-off races, two "independents" (who are reportedly affiliated with the NDP) also won, and another NDP-affiliated "independent" won in an uncontested race (as the official NDP candidate dropped his candidacy immediately prior to the second round of voting). All thirty-one candidates contesting the June 18 second round races were either official NDP candidates or NDP-affiliated independents. Taken with the results of the June 11 main elections (ref A) and the eleven NDP candidates who won seats without election (because there were no other candidates in their races; see ref B for details),the results of the elections overall are that 84 NDP candidates, three "independents", and one Taggamu Party candidate emerged victorious. (Note: 88 seats of the 264-member Shura Council were up for election, and an additional 44 members will be appointed shortly by President Hosni Mubarak, in accordance with the constitutional requirement that fifty-percent of the total membership of the Council be renewed, either by election of appointment, every three years). The new membership of the Shura Council is scheduled to convene on June 24, to elect a speaker and two deputies. ¶2. (SBU) Other than a few minor scuffles between voters, no violence was reported in relation to the second round of voting. Reports from civil society monitors indicate limited irregularities similar to those occurring during the June 11 first round, including security services blocking voters' access to polling stations, prevention of registered observers from monitoring the casting of votes, and the late opening and early closing of polling stations. Independent Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Yom reported on June 19 that approximately 100 NDP members in the countryside district of Minya submitted collective resignations "in protest against the rigging of the June 18 elections and forging of ballots" in favor of the NDP candidate running for the "professionals" Shura seat, and the retired lieutenant police colonel who ran for the "farmers" seat as an NDP-affiliated independent. According to the newspaper's report, two minibuses, accompanied by a police car, visited Minya polling stations and placed stacks of ballots marked in favor of the two candidates into ballot boxes. ¶3. (SBU) The SEC made no announcement regarding estimated voter turnout on June 18. Civil society monitors estimate turnout at between 1-5 percent. JONES