Egyptian military rigs presidential elections

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of fully relinquishing its control over the country’s politics.

Rules for the elections and their administration were in The Egyptian masses returned to the central squares of the hands of the Presidential Election Commission, a body Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Mahalla, and elsewhere on June 2 appointed by SCAF. PEC’s rulings are not subject to legal and 3 to protest the verdicts in the cases of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his partners in crime. Mubarak, who Shafiq’s very eligibility to run is the subject of a pending had orchestrated efforts to repress the revolution by send- court case. He was briefly banned from running as a sop ing in his military and security forces, killing hundreds and to mass protests against the participation of former regime wounding thousands, was found guilty only of not prevent- officials (whom Egyptians refer to collectively as “felool”) ing such attacks. His closest aides, including his sons, were in the elections—protests that the regime met with murderacquitted of any role in the murders, and also cleared of ous violence. In the end, the PEC allowed him to run and referred a new law barring top Mubarak-era officials from This renewed mass upsurge is further fueled by anger over the massive fraud committed in the recently concluded first round of presidential elections, which were run by the Egyp- stances of vote buying. And the “Judges for Egypt” movetian military (the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or ment called on PEC to explain the swelling of voter rolls by SCAF) and its appointees. The candidates receiving the first and second largest votes in the May 23 and 24 election— Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Ahmed dependent election observers included registering the deShafiq, former Prime Minister under Mubarak—will take ceased, polling staff telling voters who to vote for and/or filling out voting cards and inserting them into ballot boxes, prohibition of all observers from sites where votes from redia, finished in third place and is thus out of the runoff. But gions were aggregated on a national scale, the maintenance Sabahi alleges that the 700,000-vote difference between in force of the Emergency Law, late amendment of election him and Shafiq is dwarfed by the votes of 900,000 military laws and procedures, polling stations that opened late and and security personnel whose ballots, he claims, were as- closed early, restricting witnesses and the media to a time signed by the military to Shafiq. Others allege that rather than their votes being assigned, military and security per- Questions have also been raised about U.S. support for the sonnel were pressured by their superiors to vote for Shafiq. inherently flawed process. The U.S. has been the main financial prop and diplomatic ally of the Mubarak and SCAF cized military and security forces are supposed to be banned regimes, and in recent years has given Egypt’s military $1.3 from registering to vote in the first place. The rigging of billion a year. The presidential elections themselves were these elections is yet more proof that SCAF has no intention funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development corruption charges. part in a June 16-17 runoff.

Hamdeen Sabahi, labeled a “left Nasserist” by the meIn any case, under Egyptian election law the highly politior administrative appeal.

the race to the constitutional court.

an additional 4.8 million in just the last 14 months. limit of 30 minutes inside polling stations, and more.

Commerce meeting.

Other candidates and Egyptian NGOs also cited many inOther examples of violations cited by candidates and inEgypt’s capitalist class. Rightfully fearful of Shafiq, some radicals are unfortutary’s policies and repression.

What’s more, the Brotherhood has repeatedly and explic-