CAIRO: Early Monday polling stations around Egypt opened again for the Shoura Council run-off elections.
The second round had 32 candidates contesting the remaining 16 seats in Al-Beheira, Assuit, Cairo, Qena, South Sinai, Aswan, Kafr El-Sheikh, Sohag, Minya and Monufia.
Allegations of fighting and clashes between supporters of two contending candidates in Qena governorate were denied by Judge Sameh Al-Kashef, spokesman for the High Elections Commission (HEC).
He said, We have not received any complaints regarding growing tensions in upper Egypt. At press time, results of the second round had not been announced.
The first round witnessed fierce competition between 19 candidates belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group and the 96 contenders of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). The result of the first round was a substantial victory for the NDP, who won 51 seats out of the 88 free spots, while the MB didn t win any seats. Mohamed Habib, deputy head of the MB accused the government of manipulating the elections to prevent any Brotherhood candidate from winning. They have made this tasteless, colorless election to serve their needs, he said. Habib criticized claims that elections were monitored by independent bodies and civil society organizations.
Our candidates were arrested, people were prevented from entering the ballot stations and most of all they detained 1,000 of our supporters [two weeks] before the elections.
Hafez Abu Saeda, head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, confirmed to The Daily Star Egypt that there have been complaints regarding accessibility to the ballot stations and consequently people s ability to vote.
These are the first Shoura elections since controversial constitutional amendments were passed in parliament last March.
