Opposition leader urges voters to boycott election
Egypt’s leading democracy advocate urged Egyptians to boycott November’s parliamentary election, saying it is certain to be rigged.
Nobel laureate Mohammed El Baradei told young supporters that participating in the vote would go against “the national will” to transform Egypt into a genuine democracy.
Mr El Baradei leads a burgeoning young opposition to President Hosni Mubarak’s nearly three-decade authoritarian rule.
He pressed Egyptians to peacefully bring down what he called a decaying regime and threatened a campaign of civil disobedience.
Egypt’s opposition groups are fractured, however, and are divided over the issue of a boycott.
Mr El Baradei is a former chief of the UN nuclear agency and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
