White House criticizes Egypt for election interference

The United States has come down hard on Egypt for disqualifying candidates from local elections this week, and said it was pushing Cairo for political reforms, Reuters reported Thursday.

The election provided the ruling National Democratic Party with another sweeping victory. The NDP won up to 100 percent of the seats in some areas. But the results are already being viewed as unrepresentative. Turnout was very low; an NGO that monitored the elections said no more than one percent of registered voters took part. The main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, boycotted the elections.

“We have been troubled by the reports of harassment, detainment and arrests of opposition candidate and campaign workers in the lead-up to the elections,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. “We believe that the Egyptian people deserve the opportunity to peacefully express their views by means of the ballot box.”

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