Egypt rights head expects Shafiq to win

Human rights activist Hafez Abu Seada Cairo – Akram Ali Human rights activist Hafez Abu Seada, chairman of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) believes that the presidential elections expressed the will of the voters and the Egyptian street with its spectrum of political ideologies “leftist, nationalist, Nasserist, and Islamist," but as for the parliamentary elections, he believed they were fraudulent "as one single party won 75 percent of the parliamenary seats” he said. In an interview with Arabstoday, Abu Seada dismissed rumours of  fraud having taken place in the presidential elections, saying that he is was not  suspicious of  the results "despite some individual and minor excesses that were officially reported and were considered to have tipped the balance in favour of a particular candidate." He emphasised the importance of accepting the results: "This is the most important democratic process, particularly as it  expressed the will of the voters" adding: “when a candidate comes from an entity which holds a monopoly of the parliamentary seats and tries to exclude the political powers, I will say ‘no’ to it. We need real guarantees for our rights and freedoms.” As for who will win the race, Abu Seada believed that Ahmed Shafiq, a former prime minister in the ousted president Hosni Mubarak's government,  "has great chances, and I expect him to win.” He also dismissed suggestions that the turnout for the second round would be less than the first, saying  that despite the fact that a percentage of those who voted for the Nasserist candidate  Hamdeen Sabbahy, Islamist candidate Aboul Fotouh and former Arab League chief, Amr Moussa will not participate in the run-off "because of the shock promotion of Shafiq and Morsi (Muslim Brotherhood candidate)  to the final round".  "There are also some who did not participate in the first round but will vote in the second" Seada added. Abu Seada believes that Mohamed Morsi will be backed by all supporters of the Islamic current in the second round as he has become the only Islamist representative after Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh was excluded. Regarding Shafiq, Abu Seada predicts that in the run-off, he will gain the support of the Copts and those who voted for Hamdeen Sabbahy, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and Amr Moussa in the first round, fearing the control of the Muslim Brotherhood over the pillars of the state, plus their desire for security on the Egyptian street which Shafiq promoted during his campaign. Abu Seada dismissed the notion that  Mohammed Morsi would make any political concessions, suggesting Shafiq has more flexibility than Morsi in offering concessions that satisfy the political powers, particularly as Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood are committed to links with the Salafi groups such as the al-Nour Party and al-Jamaa al-Islamiya. The chairman of Egypt's human rights organisation observed that the Brotherhood nominee must adopt one of two options; either to maintain the Islamic bloc which demands the implementation of Islamic law (Sharia), or to abandon the Islamic bloc altogether by making concessions to the other political parties which is to say that Egypt is a secular state not an Islamic one. Abu Seada believes that the decline in the percentage of Brotherhood supporters in the presidential elections in comparison to that of the parliamentary elections was due to two reasons: First the restriction set by the Supreme Presidential Election Commission (SPEC) to prevent fraud occuring  in the polling stations during the parliamentary elections by groups following the Brotherhood and their attempts to influence people before they voted. Secondly, the weak performance of the Brotherhood in the parliament and their focus on issues which are not of essential importance to Egyptians, in addition to their ambitions for political positions. Concluding the conversation, Abu Seada appealed to the Egyptian people to elect the one who will provide essential guarantees to rescue the country from the economic and political crisis it has experienced  since the ruling junta took over. He also invited the international community  to involve itself in serious dialogue during this period to obtain clear guarantees from the two candidates in order to protect the revolution, adding that it is necessary to instigate new parliamentary and presidential elections after drafting the constitution.