Egypt's opposition party, Ghad, has said that it will join Mohamed ElBaradei in boycotting the parliamentary elections. Last week, ElBaradei urged the nation to boycott the elections, saying that they would be rigged by the government and anyone who took part would be, “going against national will”.
"We respect the opinion of ElBaradei in the boycott. This man is a great weight in the process of change, and we respect him,” said Ghad chairman Ayman Nour.
The Ghad party voted against participation in the parliamentary elections and were joined by both Egypt's Kefaya movement and the communist party, in hope that united opposition would deny legitimacy to the ruling party.
Nour ran against President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential elections, coming in a close second. He was jailed soon after the elections for allegedly submitting forged documents when setting up Ghad.
According to Ghad co-founder Wael Nawara, the party will aim to “lay down new rules” and “work to create a new parliament and a new constitution.”
Rights groups have expressed concern that the parliamentary elections, due to take place in November, will be rigged after an upper house vote, in June, saw the ruling party win most seats.
Source: Reuters
For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.
No comments:
Post a Comment