The 2008 Egyptian municipal elections were local elections held across Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 on 8 April 2008.

Run up to elections

In the run up to the elections, Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

 alleged mass round-ups of 800 opposition Muslim Brotherhood

Muslim Brotherhood

The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...

 candidates and would-be electoral candidates. HRW also cited the delaying of a military court announcement for 40 Muslim Brotherhood leaders accused of belonging to an illegal organization until April 15, a week after the elections. A general strike

2008 Egyptian general strike

The 2008 Egyptian general strike was a strike which occurred on 6 April 2008, by Egyptian workers, primarily in the state-run textile industry, in response to low wages and rising food costs. Strikes are illegal in Egypt and authorities have been given orders to break demonstrations forcefully in...

 was called for 6 April to protest low wages and rising food costs, with the Muslim Brotherhood giving support to the strike.

Boycott

On 7 April, the day before the election, the Muslim Brotherhood announced it would boycott the election, after being allowed to compete for 20 seats amongst the 52,000 total seat available nationally. The ruling National Democratic Party

National Democratic Party (Egypt)

The National Democratic Party , often simply called Al-Ḥizb al-Waṭaniy – the "National Party", was an Egyptian political party. It was founded by President Anwar El Sadat in 1978....

, led by President

President of Egypt

The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the head of state of Egypt.Under the Constitution of Egypt, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government....

 Hosni Mubarak

Hosni Mubarak

Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....

will be unopposed for election in 70% of the seats.