Hamdin Sabahi, president of the unlicensed pan-Arab Karama Party, claimed that the vote-rigging that took place during Sunday's parliamentary elections would pave the way for Gamal Mubarak’s inheritance of power from his father, President Hosni Mubarak.
He predicted the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) would manipulate the new parliament to pass bills that violate the rights of Egyptian citizens.
“The rigging proves that the NDP wants no opposition in parliament,” he said. “With the new parliament, we will see increased restrictions on freedom of expression, including new restrictions on the media."
He went on to say that the electoral fraud seen in the parliamentary polls represented a harbinger of what could be expected in next year's presidential election.
“If President Mubarak intends to run again for the presidency, he should not have allowed this,” Sabahi said, insinuating that the senior Mubarak may allow his son to succeed him next year.
Calling on opposition forces to fight the prospect of presidential "inheritance," he advised the opposition to withdraw from runoffs scheduled for early next week "in order to restore our self-respect.”
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
