Leader of the Constitution Party and founding member of the National Salvation Front (NSF) Mohamed ElBaradei called on Egyptians Saturday to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections.
“I called for a parliamentary elections boycott in 2010 to expose sham democracy. Today, I repeat my call, and will not be part of an act of deception,” said ElBaradei via Twitter.
ElBaradei, who called for boycotting parliamentary elections in 2010 under Mubarak, went on to add in Arabic: "It's as if no regime was toppled."
Egypt's presidency announced Thursday night that the first post-constitution elections for the House of Representatives will commence 27-28 April.
On 12 January, the NSF issued eleven conditions to ensure the transparency of the electoral process. The front asserted that it will boycott the poll if the conditions were not met.
On 19 February, the Popular Current led by former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi, another founding member of the NSF, announced that it will be boycotting the parliamentary poll.
“We will not support a regime that has rebelled against all the goals of the January 25 Revolution, and the sacrifices of its martyrs and injured,” read a statement that was published on the movement’s Facebook page.
While both leaders of the NSF announced their intention to boycott, no official statement has yet been released from the NSF.
NSF spokesman Khaled Dawoud told Ahram Online in January that a consensus had been reached among members of the front that the decision to run in the elections would be decided collectively as the bloc had been planning to run on a single electoral list.
Meanwhile, leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed El-Beltagy, addressed NSF leaders during as interview with Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr, inviting them to a dialogue to reassuring them on the transparency of the coming parliamentary elections.
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