EGYPT - July 19 - Largest Leftist Party To Boycott September Presidential Election.

Egypt's largest leftist Tagammu party decides to boycott presidential elections in September, saying the government remained despotic and had obstructed political reforms sought by the opposition. "We don't want to be bit actors in a play the outcome of which is known in advance", said Rifaat Al Said, secretary-general of the Tagammu Party. "The general secretariat decided by a majority not to nominate anyone from the party leadership for the presidential elections and to boycott these elections", a statement added. "The government maintains despotic conditions, has stood against any constitutional or political reform and insists on no judicial supervision [of the elections]", it said. Pres Hosni Mubarak is expected to seek a fifth term in the elections. They will be the first elections ever in Egypt with more than one presidential candidate, after a constitutional amendment in May abolished the old system of referendums on a single candidate chosen in advance by parliament. The only prominent politician still likely to challenge Mubarak is Ayman Nour of the liberal Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, who was detained earlier this year and is on trial on forgery charges which he and his party say are politically motivated. Al Said said the Tagammu had given the authorities a chance to fulfil their promises of a level playing field for the presidential elections, but had now abandoned hope. The party had complained five times, for example, that local authorities had removed party banners while leaving in place those of Mubarak's National Democratic Party, he said.