Egyptian court annuls Qena election results, blocking famous NDP candidate (Photo: Al-Masry Al-Youm)

The Administrative Court of the Upper Egyptian governorate of Qena issued a verdict on Monday night annulling parliamentary election results from the third phase of voting Nagaa Hammadi constituency.

The annullment means the cancellation of results that had put National Democratic Party (NDP) figure Abdel Rahim al-Ghoul into the run-offs for the third phase. The verdict mandates that the elections be held again.

Allegations of fraud in recent elections sparked uproar because Nagaa Hammadi was likely to be the only constituency dominated by politicians loyal to President Hosni Mubarak's regime. Three of the four candidates slated to compete in the run-offs were former members of Mubarak’s NDP.

With the verdict, the court confirmed suspicions that the counting process was not accurate, and there were clear signs that elections in the constituency were rigged.

Nevertheless, it is unclear if the run-offs will be held on Tuesday, as planned prior to the court decision. The high elections commission may cancel the run-offs in accordance with the verdict, or else ignore the court decision and let them proceed.

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