Situation Report: Egypt: The political process between 'opening up' and 'control' Issaka K. Souare

On 8 April 2008, Egyptians voted in municipal elections to elect some 53,000 local councillors. The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) claimed a resounding victory. Yet the huge margin of its victory begs many questions. It won with a stunning 97 per cent of the votes, having won 80 per cent of the seats unopposed, even before the elections took place. This is understandable given that the ruling party had fielded 53,000 candidates, or a candidate for every single seat. A further 4,000 or so members of the party stood as independent candidates. The combined registered candidates of the 22 opposition parties1 that took part in the elections stood for only five per cent of the total number of seats.