Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Davos 2012
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Summits
Business Video
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
James Saft
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Mohamed El-Erian
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Geraldine Fabrikant
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Money
Money Home
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Life & Culture
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Editor's choice
A selection of our best photos from the last 48 hours. Full Article
Images of December
Best photos of the year
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Christie handles protesters Jersey-style
08 Jan 2012
Zopittybop-bop-bop arrested near Wisconsin Capitol
12:21pm EST
Iran sentences U.S.-Iranian man to death for spying
|
2:27pm EST
Venezuela will not recognize World Bank ruling in Exxon case
08 Jan 2012
Jay-Z reveals Beyonce's miscarriage in ode to daughter
3:00pm EST
Discussed
188
Huntsman outraged at ad targeting adopted daughters
154
Obama to help unveil ”realistic” military plan
132
Iran threatens action if U.S. carrier returns: IRNA
Watched
Bungee jumper plummets into Zimbabwe river
Sun, Jan 8 2012
NZ cargo ship, Rena, splits in two
Sun, Jan 8 2012
NZ cargo ship splits in two
Sat, Jan 7 2012
Egyptian liberal party to boycott upper house vote
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Islamists signal won't press for Egypt government change
3:02pm EST
Analysis & Opinion
Leading Copt faces Egypt trial for insulting Islam with Mickey Mouse tweet
For Obama’s 2012 hopes, it really is the economy
Related Topics
World »
Egypt »
By Tamim Elyan
CAIRO |
Mon Jan 9, 2012 3:02pm EST
CAIRO (Reuters) - A liberal Egyptian party co-founded by telecom tycoon Naguib Sawiris said on Monday it would boycott upper house elections later this month in protest against what it says were violations committed by Islamist parties in earlier voting rounds.
A strong showing by the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative Salafis pushed liberal groups, including Sawiris's Free Egyptians Party (FEP), into third and fourth place in three rounds of voting for the lower house, with run-offs set to complete voting for the main part of the assembly this week.
The FEP's withdrawal could be a major blow to the Egyptian Bloc, an alliance of liberal and leftist groups of which it is a key member. The Egyptian Bloc is expected to win at least nine percent of seats in the lower house, where Islamists so far claim at least 60 percent.
The FEP called on other parties to join it in boycotting the Shura Council election and it was not immediately clear whether the Egyptian Bloc would run without one of its main parties.
"The process turned into a religious competition rather than an electoral one..." the FEP said in a statement, adding that the results did not accurately express the will of Egyptians.
"We filed more than 500 complaints but no legal action was taken to resist it... which will exacerbate violations during the Shura Council election as violators are awarded with electoral gains and those abiding by the laws are punished."
Local monitors have said Egypt's first free parliamentary vote since army officers overthrew the monarchy in 1952 was marred by minor violations that could cast doubt on some constituencies' results, but that these would not undermine the legitimacy of the ballot as a whole.
The violations include party publicity outside voting stations, using religious slogans and isolated reports of judges and employees directing voters to vote for Islamist parties, the monitors said.
The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party has accused Sawiris, a Coptic Christian, of using his media empire to mount a disinformation campaign against them and distort the campaign.
The success of Islamist parties has alarmed Egyptian liberals and some Western governments. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, overthrown by a popular uprising in February, had - like some other Arab leaders - presented himself as a bulwark against Islamist groups.
"I think the election for the People's Assembly (lower house) does reflect the basic trends of public opinion," said Mostafa al-Sayid, politics professor at Cairo University. "This is something the liberals should take seriously into account, otherwise they will not succeed in the coming elections."
Egypt's staggered three-stage parliamentary election began on November 28 and drew an unprecedented voter turnout. The lower house is set to hold its first session on January 23.
Its first task is to appoint a 100-strong constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. Both chambers will have a popular mandate, but the Shura Council tends to have a consultative, advisory role and many politicians have demanded it be scrapped.
"The Shura Council is not seen as a very useful chamber of the parliament and it would have been better to drop this consultative assembly and to save the cost of the election," al-Sayid said.
The FEP also called on the generals who have ruled Egypt since Mubarak's overthrow to cancel the Shura Council election in order to speed up the process of handing power to civilians.
(Reporting By Tamim Elyan; Editing by Tim Pearce)
World
Egypt
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Advertise With Us
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.