CAIRO: Egypt held runoff parliamentary elections Sunday that are certain to hand President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party a crushing victory after the two main opposition groups decided to boycott in protest of alleged fraud in the first round. Both the Brotherhood and the other key opposition group, the liberal Wafd party, boycotted Sunday's runoffs. As a result, most of the contests now pit rival candidates from Mubarak's National Democratic Party against each other, ensuring a parliament almost entirely made up of the ruling party, with a few seats going to independents and smaller parties. “NDP versus NDP,” said the headline in the Wafd party's newspaper. Such an outcome could backfire for Egypt's regime, eliminating any outward appearance of a fair vote and depriving them of any democratic legitimacy. With apparently so little at stake, turnout Sunday appeared even lower than a week earlier, with only a small trickle of voters seen going into several polling stations in Cairo, a city of some 18 million people. “People preferred to stay away, even though some candidates are offering 200 pounds (about $34) per vote,” said Salah Ibrahim, a representative of one of the contenders, referring to plainly evident vote buying.
