EGYPT: Election coalition urges President Mubarak to dissolve parliament

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Calling the recent legislative elections ‘a moral and a political catastrophe,’ the Independent Coalition for Elections Observation is urging President Hosni Mubarak to dissolve the new parliament.

The coalition of three Egyptian human rights organizations has questioned the constitutionality of the new parliament, especially after numerous violations and irregularities were reported and documented before and during the electoral process.

‘The elections were full of widespread violations that brought Egypt at least 15 years back,’ the coalition said in a statement. ‘Transparency standards were overlooked at the largest scale. Rigging and forging the citizens’ will has become the ‘law’ regulating this election. This was further consolidated by the abolishment of judicial supervision which was replaced by a high commission, the majority of which is formed by the ruling party, with limited powers.’

Egypt’s Higher Administrative Court has similarly warned that the new parliament is in danger of losing its legitimacy as a result of the lawsuits filed by independent and opposition candidates.

The coalition was joined in its calls by the Muslim Brotherhood, which boycotted Sunday’s second round of voting after claiming that violations led to them losing 61 parliamentary seats in the first round.

‘All political groups in Egypt are waiting for a wise decision that only President Hosni Mubarak can take. Not only as a leader of the National Democratic Party but as president of the republic,’ Essam El Eryan, the Brotherhood’s official spokesman said.

Final election results showed that the ruling NDP won 424 out of the parliament’s 508 elective seats. The Brotherhood, which formed the largest opposition bloc in the outgoing parliament with 88 seats, went down to just one seat.

--Amro Hassan in Cairo