Egypt

Election monitoring coalition urges Mubarak to dissolve parliament

The Independent Coalition for Elections Observation has urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to dissolve parliament, saying the electoral process was marred by fraud and violence.

The coalition is made up of three rights organizations: the Egyptian Association for the Development of Societal Participation, the Cairo Center for Human Rights Studies, and Nazra Association for Feminist Studies.

In a statement issued on Monday, the coalition said the violations that took place during the election have taken Egypt back at least 15 years.

The coalition said the entire electoral process must be supervised by an independent judicial authority. The Ministry of Interior's General Department for Elections should not be left to control the electoral process, they added.  

According to the coalition, authorities suppressed the voice of the media during the election, which negated the possibility of free and transparent elections.

The High Elections Commission has limited powers particularly since the ruling National Democratic Party selects most of its members, the coalition added.  

The coalition also highlighted incidents of violence and thuggery during the two rounds of the elections. These were disregarded, or in some cases even encouraged by security, leading to the death and injury of a number of people, according to the coalition.  

The coalition also mentioned that the Supreme Administrative Court ruled to invalidate the election at several polling stations which means that the results of the elections are void.

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