NDI opened an office in Egypt in 2005, and began providing technical assistance to several Egyptian civil society organizations (CSOs) observing the 2005 parliamentary and presidential elections. Since then, NDI has continued to work with local civic partners on election observation and voter registration projects, most recently during the April 2008 municipal elections.
In addition to its civil society programs, NDI consults regularly with a number of Egyptian political parties in areas such as strategic planning, message development and internal party reform. NDI is actively exploring more opportunities to help expand women’s political participation in Egypt.
Political Context
On September 7, 2005, Egypt held its first contested presidential election, followed in November and December by the most competitive parliamentary elections in Egypt’s post-revolutionary history. While the parliamentary elections saw the opposition Muslim Brotherhood secure one-fifth of the seats in the lower house of parliament, both of these elections were highly flawed, and the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) soon moved to reverse the gains made by the political opposition. In addition to the detention of opposition presidential candidate Ayman Nour, as well as hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood and secular opposition activists, the government held a highly suspect referendum on March 26, 2007 passing amendments to 34 articles of the Egyptian constitution that served to increase the government’s hold on power and limit the role of the political opposition.
Two elections have been held since the passage of these amendments: Shura Council elections, held in two stages in June 2007, and municipal elections held on April 8, 2008. Both of these elections were markedly less free than the elections held in 2005. For example, as many as 70 percent of the 50,000 seats being contested in the municipal elections were won before election day by uncontested NDP candidates.
Against this increasingly illiberal backdrop, Egypt is witnessing its most widespread social unrest since the economic reforms imposed by Anwar Sadat in the late 1970s, as well as a crisis over presidential succession. Beginning with a strike by textile workers at a government-owned factory in the Nile Delta in December 2006, concerns over privatization and the rapidly rising cost of basic commodities — coupled with stagnant wages — have resulted in sporadic strikes and protests among workers across Egypt. At the same time, it is increasingly likely that Gamal Mubarak will succeed his father Hosni Mubarak as president. The closed nature of the presidential succession discussions, along with tensions within the ruling party, has contributed to anxiety over the process.
Civil Society Strengthening
NDI continues to maintain strong relationships with civil society partners and to explore possibilities for collaboration with more CSOs outside of Cairo, following a nationwide civil society assessment conducted during the summer of 2007. In addition, NDI has continued to provide technical assistance and training to civil society groups conducting election-monitoring activities, including those during the 2007 constitutional referendum, the 2007 Shura Council elections and the April 2008 municipal elections. This support has included an NDI counterpart program in which veteran election observers partner with local CSOs to provide feedback on trainings as well as ongoing technical assistance.
Political Party Development
NDI provides assistance to a number of Egyptian political parties. While the scope of this programming is currently limited due in large part to a media environment that is hostile to any activity that could be construed as collaboration with a foreign government, NDI continues to provide small-scale assistance to its political party partners. In addition, NDI led a multi-partisan delegation of Egyptian parliamentarians and party officials on a study mission to three US states to observe the presidential primary elections. This left participants with a deeper impression not only of the dynamism of the American political system overall, but of the democratic means with which the two major parties operate internally.
NDI plans to build upon the success of this study mission with a similar event during the US general election in November in 2008.
Contact Information
For more information about these programs, use our contact form or contact:
Washington, D.C.
Katie Croake, Senior Program Officer
(202) 728-5542
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