Egypt's opposition was left deeply split Wednesday after a leading dissident called for a boycott of upcoming parliamentary elections, but found other parties unwilling to comply, dpa reported
Former top United Nations nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei, now an Egyptian dissident, said in his latest remarks that a boycott of the poll would lead to the demise of the ruling National Democratic Party's (NDP) government.However, the main opposition group in the country, the officially outlawed but still politically active Muslim Brotherhood, said it had not yet decided on its next move."The brotherhood has not taken a decision on whether or not to support the boycott," Gamal Nassar, an official within the movement, told the German Press Agency dpa by telephone."The situation will become clear after Eid," he said, referring to this week's Islamic holiday of Eid el-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Ayman Nour, who ran against incumbent Hosny Mubarak in the last presidential election and found himself in jail after the results were tallied, was also debating what to do."We need to ensure real elections with real guarantees ... The first indications from the regime suggest that there will be no guarantees," Nour said in an interview.His Ghad party will make a decision about the boycott on September 15, according to Nour, who came in second in the 2005 election with 7 per cent of the vote, according to official results.The opposition, including ElBaradei, have made seven demands of the ruling NDP that they call the "guarantees."
Among the key points are calls for annulling the strict emergency laws governing the country over the last three decades, allowing fair election observers into Egypt and opening up the electoral system to allow for more democratic reforms.
Some members of the boycott campaign say the current system is inherently faulty, as it favours the ruling party.
"As ElBaradei said, whoever participates in the elections is participating in election fraud," said George Ishak, who is working with the former UN official on the boycott campaign.
"The other parties have not yet joined the boycott because they have political calculations," Ishak added in a phone interview, saying his campaign's sudden call for voters to stay home was part of an effort to force the other groups to take a stand.
After the end of his 12-year tenure as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this year, ElBaradei returned to Cairo and was quickly lifted to the head of a nascent movement calling for a transition to a more democratic system.
His latest call for a boycott marks his toughest position yet against the Mubarak government, coming on the heels of more tempered stands against the ruling party.
He has repeatedly urged comprehensive reforms, and at one point indicated he might run for president to face off against Mubarak, who has ruled for nearly 30 years.
ElBaradei's efforts to gain a local following have met limited success, but the Nobel laureate's comments on Egypt are watched closely abroad.
He has taken tentative steps towards a temporary alliance with the Brotherhood on certain issues, especially on ending the emergency laws, which have put countless Islamists and others behind bars.
An ongoing petition has gathered nearly 800,000 signatures demanding an end to the emergency rule. Nearly 80 per cent have been gathered by the Brotherhood, with the rest being collected by the more secular opposition groups.
But the topic of a boycott still divides the already fractured opposition.
The Brotherhood ran "independent candidates" in the last parliamentary poll in 2005 and they captured 88 seats. The next election for parliament is likely to take place in either October or November, with a presidential poll expected for next year.
The NDP has said Mubarak is its candidate for the presidential poll, though he has not officially accepted. Mubarak has nevertheless declared that he would rule until his last breath.
The 82-year-old president has never named a successor and recent health problems have revitalized a debate in Egypt's political circles about what will happen after his reign ends.
Among those mentioned as successors is his son, Gamal Mubarak, a leader in the ruling party
