in the 2000 parliamentary elections, abbas nominated himself as an independent labor representative for helwan. abbas said that his general union for mineral, electrical, and engineering industries at first refused to grant him status as a labor representative. according to abbas, he received it, "following a long and exhausting struggle with the general union council." he also criticized the candidacy of minister sayed mash'al and supported safir nigm for minister of military production in the helwan area. abbas argued, "after mash'al took over, there was a massive explosion at one of the factories. five workers died and compensation was inadequate. when workers complained, [mash'al] had dozens of them sent to jail."