Election Violence Kills 15 in Egypt; Foes Allege Fraud

Rival forces clashed with guns, knives and sticks Wednesday in a bloody conclusion to Egyptian parliamentary elections that were boycotted by leading Islamic candidates to protest what they called an attempt to bar them from political life.

At least 15 people were killed and dozens wounded during the runoff vote for 306 seats in the People’s Assembly, or parliament, police said. More than 100 people were arrested.

In the worst fight, six people were killed in the southern province of Qena. Police said supporters of the ruling party’s candidate stormed a voting station and opened fire, killing at least three people and wounding nine.

Supporters of the independent candidate retaliated, killing three backers of the ruling party, including the candidate’s son.

Wednesday’s vote followed last week’s first-round election in which government-backed candidates won 90% of the decided seats; the rest went to independents, many of them government supporters. Opposition candidates, including members of Egypt’s largest Muslim group, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, did not win a single seat.

Like last week, opposition candidates accused the government of stuffing ballot boxes, forcibly barring election monitors and blocking voters from polling stations.

“This is unprecedented, even in Egypt’s history of rigging elections,” said Mokhtar Nooh, a Muslim Brotherhood candidate in Cairo. “The elections were tailor-made.”

However, the government called Wednesday’s ballot free and fair. The ruling National Democratic Party was expected to win at least two-thirds of the 444 seats. Results are expected today.