Egyptian elections test new system

Egypt will hold elections for the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament, on Tuesday. As our correspondent explains, they are the first to take place since a controversial constitutional amendment was introduced three years ago.

Reuters

In a country where voter participation is low and the ruling National Democratic Party always wins, the Shura Council elections normally don’t get much attention.

But this time they will be a test for a new electoral system.

Tuesday’s elections are the first that will be overseen by a new Higher Electoral Commission. Previously, judges supervised voting in every polling station to guarantee fairness.

That system was scrapped in 2007 - a move that was denounced by all opposition forces. Many fear that without the judges present, even greater fraud than before will take place.

The biggest opposition group, the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, has already complained that its campaigners are being harassed by security forces backing the government candidates.

The Brotherhood has never won a seat in the Shura Council elections. But this time it hopes to make a breakthrough or - failing that - draw attention to fraud before further elections later this year.

The Shura Council elections is seen as a preview of the 2011 presidential election, which could be the first in which 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt since 1981, does not run.