Ayman Nour spent three years in jail after opposing Mubarak, but plans to run against him again next year
Egyptians go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament, but opposition politician Ayman Nour says there is less democracy in the country than in the last round of voting.
Nour, 46, a former presidential candidate and head of the opposition Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, was jailed in December 2005 by Hosni Mubarak’s government following the presidential elections that year. The only candidate to run against Mubarak, Nour officially won 8% of the vote amid widespread claims of election fraud.
A diabetic, Nour was released from prison in 2009 on health grounds. He had been charged of forging membership applications to his party.
"Since my incarceration in 2005, Egypt has become more dictatorial," he told The Media Line in an interview. "The political renaissance that Egypt experienced in 2004-2005 was reversed after my arrest and the introduction of constitutional changes in 2007."
A constitutional amendment to Article 88 introduced in 2007 drastically reduced the judicial supervision of elections. Nour highlighted the recent torture and killing of Egyptian youths Ahmad Sha’aban and Khaled Sa’id by Egyptian police as examples of increased government violence.
"The issue of torture isn’t new," Nour said. "What is new is the fact that torture, once confined to prison cells, is no longer committed in closed rooms but has seeped onto the streets. This is a dangerous development."
Nour added that he himself was only physically assaulted once while in prison, following an article he wrote in May 2007 titled "What Will Happen the Day Mubarak Dies".
Al-Ghad, created by Nour in 2004, is one of some 30 Egyptian opposition groups united under an umbrella coalition, the National Association for Change, created by the former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Muhammad Al-Baradai. Members of the coalition are boycotting Sunday’s parliamentary elections, claiming they aren’t being conducted fairly. But its most significant component, the Muslim Brotherhood, decided to break ranks and run its candidates.
Nour said he intends to run against Mubarak in Egyptian presidential elections scheduled for September 2011. Currently, his conviction on forgery prevents him from doing so, yet he remains his party’s official nominee.
A new human rights report issued Wednesday addressing government violence in the lead-up to the elections gives credence to Nour’s allegations. The 24-page report released by New York-based Human Rights Watch contended that Egypt’s Emergency Law, in place since 1981, gives security officials free rein to disperse rallies, intimidate journalists and arbitrarily detain people without charge.
"Repression by the government makes free and fair elections extremely unlikely this weekend," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director for the organization.
Despite boycotting the elections, Nour has defied the ruling party’s refusal to allow international monitors to survey the elections. Earlier this month, he announced his intention to organize an international conference just prior to the elections, a move that would allow European lawmakers to enter Egypt for reasons unrelated to the elections.
"At the same time, they would be able to monitor the balloting process closely," Nour was quoted as saying by Al-Masry Al-Youm daily.
International observers have never been allowed to monitor Egyptian elections.
The Sunday elections will allow Egyptians to vote in 444 candidates from a total of 518 seats in the People’s Assembly, the parliament’s lower house. In the current parliament, 311 of 454 seats are occupied by Mubarak loyalists.
"Our party cannot completely change reality,” Nour told The Media Line. “But it’s a real addition to Egypt’s political map."