Egyptian Parliament. Al-Ahram
Egypt's National Election Authority (NEA) accepted the candidacy of 4,006 individuals who will compete for 284 seats -- one-third of the seats -- in the new House of Representatives elections via the individual candidacy system, the NEA said.
Eight closed party lists were approved to run for the same number of seats in the four constituencies allocated for party lists, the NEA added.
The last third will be appointed by the president of the republic.
The two-stage election will be held between 21 October and 8 December. The new House is scheduled to hold its first session in January.
Head of the NEA Lasheen Ibrahim released a statement saying that a political coalition led by Egypt's pro-government Mostaqbal Watan (Future of the Homeland) Party, dubbed “For the Sake of Egypt,” will run in the four constituencies of Cairo and the Middle and South Delta (100 seats); the North, Middle and South of Upper Egypt (100 seats); the Eastern Delta (42 seats), and the Western Delta (42 seats).
The Independents Alliance, made up of members from several parties, will compete against the Mostaqbal Watan coalition in Cairo and Middle and South Delta constituency.
The Nedaa Masr bloc will run for seats in the North, Middle and South of Upper Egypt as well as the Western Delta constituencies, while the Sons of Egypt will run under the “For the sake of Egypt” list in the Eastern Delta constituency.
In the first stage, Egyptian expats will cast their votes on 21-23 October and Egyptians at home on 21-23 October. In the case of a run-off, expats will vote again on 21-23 November and Egyptians at home on 23-24 November.
The first stage is concerned with the North, Middle and South of Upper Egypt constituency comprising 11 governorates, including Giza, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, New Valley, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, and the Red Sea. The Western Delta includes Alexandria, Beheira and Matrouh.
The second stage will be conducted on 4-6 November for expats and on 7-8 November for Egyptians at home. Potential run-offs will be conducted on 5-7 December for expats and on 7-8 December at home.
The first stage includes the six governorates of Cairo, Qalioubiya, Menoufiya, Daqahliya, Gharbiya, and Kafr El-Sheikh of the Cairo and the Middle and South Delta constituency and the seven governorates of Sharqiya, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, South Sinai and North Sinai of the Eastern Delta constituency.
The Mostaqbal Watan-led list includes candidates from 12 political parties — Mostaqbal Watan, Wafd, Guardians of the Nation, Modern Egypt, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, the People’s Republican Party, Reform and Development, the Tagammu Party, Generation’s Will, the Egyptian Freedom Party, and the Justice and Congress parties, as well as candidates from the Political Parties' Young People Coordination Committee.
The Mostaqbal Watan-led list includes political parties with different ideologies, Ahmed Kandil, media advisor of the head of Support Egypt Coalition, the House’s majority bloc, quoted the head of the coalition Abdel-Hady El-Qassabi as saying.
El-Qassabi affirmed the high representation of women and youth in the list, in line with a 25 percent representation guaranteed by the constitution for women in the House elections.
The window for registration in the House polls closed on 26 September.
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