By Heba Hesham
CAIRO: The committee supervising Egypt’s presidential election issued Wednesday regulations for ratifying the signatures of voters who support certain candidates, for the voting procedure of expatriates and also specified campaign funding guidelines.
The Supreme Presidential Election Committee will begin receiving nominations on Saturday and until April 8, with the first election since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster scheduled for May 23–24.
Presidential hopefuls, who’ve already started campaigning, must collect the signatures of 30 parliamentarians or 30,000 eligible voters from at least 15 governorates in order to be qualified as candidates.
Members of the campaign of the youngest presidential hopeful, Khaled Aly, criticized what they described as confusion by the announcements of the committee in this regard.
“Some citizens who wish to support the candidacy of Aly went to a number of notary offices to register their support for him, based on the statement by Councilor Hatem Bigato, secretary-general of the committee, which confirmed that the forms were delivered to these offices,” according to a statement from Aly’s campaign.
“Bigato confirmed that there is no problem with collecting proxies for the candidates before their official nomination, but citizens were surprised that there is no form for these proxies, as well as conflicts in administrative procedures in each of these offices,” the statement read.
For expatriates, voting will take place on May 11–17, and Egyptians living abroad must register through the committee’s website by April 4. Eligible voters will receive a pin number after registration.
The committee said if there is more than one diplomatic mission or consulate in a country, voters can cast their ballot at their place of choice. However, if there is no consulate in the country, voters must go to the nearest Egyptian diplomatic mission.
Several presidential hopefuls have already started campaigning, with posters and banners already being spotted across Egypt.
The committee also specified guidelines for campaign spending and donations. It had previously set the limit for spending on electoral campaigning at LE 10 million and LE 2 million in case of run-offs.
Funding of electoral campaigns should come from the candidate’s own money or resources allocated by their respective political party, in addition to the sum of donations received from regular citizens.
Donations may not exceed LE 200,000 and LE 40,000 in the case of run-offs.
Whether direct or indirect, donations from a foreign person, any international organization or any entity that has a foreigner contributing to its capital, are banned.
Candidates must open an account in local currency in any of the three national banks to deposit the funds for their campaign, and must notify the committee of the account number within 24 hours.
Within 48 hours, candidates must inform the committee of the amount deposited in this account, its source and the details of expenditures.
Parties that nominate candidates are to notify the committee of any donation that exceeds LE 1,000.
A statement detailing the total revenue, its source and expenditures must also be submitted to the committee within 15 days from the date of the results’ announcement.
On Saturday, presidential hopefuls are expected to submit their requests to the committee’s chairman in the specified form and with relevant documents attached. This includes the required signatures as well as a birth certificate and documents to prove that the nominee is born to Egyptian parents, does not hold another nationality and is not married to a non-Egyptian.
Also required is a financial disclosure statement in accordance with the provisions of Law 62 of 1975 regarding illicit gains.
Egyptians campaign for hardline Islamist, Hazem Abu Ismail (portrait), who is running in the presidential elections in the neighborhood of Nasr City on March 9. (AFP Photo/Amro Maraghi)
