‘List of Egypt’ threatens withdrawal from elections over legal complications for members

Amira El-Fekki
2 Min Read
Egyptian politicians demanded legal guarantees that the upcoming parliament cannot be dissolved. "(DNE / FILE PHOTO / Hassan Ibrahim)

The electoral coalition known as “List of Egypt” has threatened to withdraw from the upcoming parliamentary elections, after a legal complication for its members wishing to run in the closed-list systems occurred.

The coalition includes Tayyar Al-Istiqlal, run by Ahmed Al-Fadaly, along with political parties under the Egyptian Front Coalition, such as the National Movement Party run by Ahmed Shafiq, Misr Baladi run by Mostafa Bakry, and Al-Ghad Party headed by Mostafa Moussa.

The threatened withdrawal comes as the Administrative Court, in charge of looking into appeals on candidatures, decided last week to allow members from the electoral coalitions “Egyptian Front Coalition” and “Tayyar Al-Istiqlal” to run for parliament on seats elected through the closed-lists system.

Nagy El-Shehaby, a member of the List of Egypt’s council and president of Al-Geel Democratic Party which is part of the coalition, said the new decision is being appealed against by the State Lawsuit Authority. The move came as the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC), which El-Shehaby accused of being biased, said it was not involved and would only implement court decisions as they are.

Ahead of Tuesday’s trial session, coalition members announced that the complication is due to a SEC objection to their candidature. The SEC, however, denied that it had registered the objection.

The SEC said it would announce the lists of final candidates on Monday, with candidates able to voluntarily withdraw within two days. Electoral campaigns are due to start Tuesday, although there have already been several reported violations, including TV interviews for parliamentary candidates

The first electoral phase will take place between 17-19 October, and will include Giza, Fayoum, Alexandria, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, Qena, Beheira, New Valley, the Red Sea, Sohag, Aswan, Luxor, Matruh.

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Journalist in DNE's politics section, focusing on human rights, laws and legislations, press freedom, among other local political issues.
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