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US says election results are positive Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-12-08T203927Z_01_RID874348_RTRUKOC_0_US-EGYPT-ELECTIONS-USA.xml&archived=Falsehttp://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-12-08T203927Z_01_RID874348_RTRUKOC_0_US-EGYPT-ELECTIONS-USA.xml&archived=False
U.S. sees problems, progress in Egypt elections
Thu Dec 8, 2005 3:39 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States expressed strong concern on Thursday over violence and harassment by authorities during elections in ally Egypt, but hailed the vote for broadening opposition representation in parliament.
After official results on Thursday showed that opposition Islamists increased their seats in the Egyptian parliament nearly six-fold, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said the process was "flawed" but the results were positive.
The election "represents a broadening of the representation of opposition and independent candidates in the Egyptian parliament and we think that's going to have a substantial impact on political life in Egypt," Ereli told a news briefing.
"That's positive. That's a sign that pluralism and democracy has taken a step forward in Egypt," he said.
Ereli said, however, that the United States was disturbed by "numerous and widespread incidents of violence, harassment
and intimidation," that led to the deaths of 8 people, including a 14-year-old boy.
He cited reports that Egyptian authorities closed or obstructed access to more than 20 voting stations and said "we've seen physical abuse of election monitors and journalists and the harassment of opposition candidates and supporters."
"It is an issue that we have and will continue to raise with the government of Egypt at the highest levels," the spokesman said.
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said eight people were killed on the last day of voting on Wednesday in clashes with security forces who cordoned off polling stations in areas with strong Muslim Brotherhood support.
The Brotherhood said it had won 12 seats, expanding its parliamentary bloc in the month-long elections to 88 -- nearly a fifth of the seats and its strongest showing ever. Its previous highest tally was 36 seats in 1987.
Still, the party of President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled for 24 years and whose government receives more than $1 billion in annual U.S. aid, retained a big majority.
Despite the Muslim Brotherhood's electoral gains, Ereli said the United States would "respect Egyptian law" and not deal with the organization, which is outlawed by Cairo as a political party.
But he said victorious Islamist oppositions candidates were elected as independents and so there would be no U.S. injunction
against dealing with them.
After presidential elections last September that were also judged to be flawed, the United States urged Egypt to improve its practices and protect against violence.
U.S. President George W. Bush has made democracy promotion in the Middle East his chief foreign policy goal but critics say he has been too soft on Egypt.
((EGYPT-ELECTIONS-USA; editing by Randall Mikkelsen; carol.giacomo@reuters.com; +202 898 8300)
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