Elections without opposition

  Egypt is still reeling from the recent elections for the People’s Assembly, the lower and primary house of the country’s bicameral parliament. The first round, on November 28, was marred by reports of fraud, violence and widespread denial of access to accredited observers. The organized opposition was left with only four seats. The Muslim Brotherhood, which in 2005had won 88 seats with members running as independents, did not win a single seat. In response to what they saw as widespread vote rigging, both the Brotherhood and the Wafd — another of the main opposition parties —announced their withdrawal from the second round, held on December 5. The final tally gave the organized opposition a mere 3 percent of the seats, compared with 23 percent in 2005. “An Assembly Without Opposition” read the headline of one independent newspaper after the announcement of the final results.  Many Egyptian analysts expected that