Mubarak Steals Egyptian Election

Since the Free Officers toppled the Egyptian monarchy, the job of President of Egypt has not been filled with the consent of the governed. Hosni Mubarak, president since the murder of Anwar Sadat in 1981, this week tried to gain some legitimacy for his regime by actually holding a multi-candidate ballot for the position. In the end, he remained true to type and relied on intimidation, fraud and multiple voting to stay in power. Not unlike an election in Florida.

And yet, this counts as progress of a sort. Egypt is the world’s most populous Arab state, and Arabs traditionally have been denied the right to select their own leaders. Until this particular election, the president of Egypt was elected in a “yes” or “no” referendum. And since one cannot beat somebody with nobody, the incumbent always got re-elected. Things are even less appetizing in places like Kuwait or Saudi Arabia (allies of the Bush administration and its “democracy on the march” mantra), where executive power derives not from a popular mandate but from pedigree. Power there is inherited.

Under Egyptian law, every person over 18 must vote (female as well as male). Some may feel this requirement undermines democracy, but Australia has a similar (largely unenforced) law that has done little harm to that country's self-governance. Yet, observers say that a mere 10-15% of the urban population voted and only 3-5% of the rural voters cast a ballot. This leaves a great deal of leeway for a well-connected candidate to create, find or otherwise acquire ballots that weren’t really cast. Nine candidates are challenging President Mubarak, but he seems to be the only one with that kind of pull.

Ayman Nour, candidate for the Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, said, “We will call for... a re-election.” He added that his appeal was “not about winning or losing, but about due process.” The government isn’t likely to agree. A Mubarak spokesman told Al-Jazeera, “If there were irregularities they were very limited and in no way did they have any effect on the final result of the election.” Perhaps a better translation from the Arabic original is, “we stole it fair and square."

Nonetheless, there is a further reason to be cheerful about this fraudulent election. For the first time in Egyptian’s modern history, the top job was open to competitors. Mr. Mubarak is the only president a great many Egyptians have ever known. He won’t live for ever, and his son may or may not be able to inherit his father’s supporters. For now, the precedent has been set, even if Mr. Mubarak cheated.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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