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Source: http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/79430/mubarak-steady-egypt-elections
Egypt's Machiavellian Electoral Gambit
(New Republic) Eric Trager - Egyptians went to the polls Sunday, but few of their votes will be counted. The country's elections are, after all, a pseudo-democratic facade carefully choreographed to appease the regime's Western benefactors. During the last parliamentary contests in November 2005, which occurred at the height of the Bush administration's "Freedom Agenda," the regime's most immediate goal was evading Western pressure to promote political liberalization. In turn, the regime scaled back its repression of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which won 88 of 444 contested parliamentary seats. In this election, Muslim Brotherhood leaders now expect to win as few as 20 of the 508 seats being contested. The ruling NDP will likely emerge holding over 80% of the parliamentary seats.