Egypt's Communist Party to boycott parliamentary elections

Ahram Online, Thursday 13 Oct 2011

Party statement attributes its decision to the affect that the ruling military council and Islamic forces have had on political and security conditions in Egypt

The Egyptian Communist Party has announced they will be boycotting parliamentary elections due on 28 November. The Communists Party is also calling on other parties and political forces to do likewise, asking them to prioritise the transitional period in order "to save the revolution."

The committtee said in a statment published earlier today that their stand is a result of "the country's current state of ambiguity and confusion that came as a result of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [SCAF] and Islamic currents wrongly prioritising during the transitional period."
 
They added that holding elections under the Emergency Law and amid the current lack of security, and without a treason law to prevent members of the former regime from running, will have catastrophic effects on the revolution and the nation. They also warned that this "could lead to incomplete elections, therefore leaving the country in a state of utter chaos."
 
"Even if the elections are complete, they will most likely bring about a parliament with a former regime and anti-revolutionary majority," read the statment. 
 
The committee added in its statment that the correct route for this transitional period is for the interim government to be replaced with one agreed upon by both revolutionary forces and the general public. This new transitional government will be responsible for protecting citizens from elements of chaos and coercement, ridding state institutions of counter-revolutionary forces and elements of corruption, drafting a new constitution, and organising parliamentary and presidential. These responsibilities, says the Communist Party, should be met over a period of six to eight months.
 
Candidate registration for Egypt’s parliamentary elections began Wednesday, 12 October. It will be the first general election for the People's Assembly (the lower house of Parliament) since the 18-day uprising and the subsequent ouster of president Hosni Mubarak on 11 February.

The registration window will be open for seven days from Wednesday, with most political forces deciding to participate rather than boycott the process.

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