CAIRO, 10 June 2005 — Egypt’s ruling party submitted to the Cabinet yesterday a final draft of an election law regulating the country’s first contested presidential election in September, the speaker of parliament said.
Fathi Srour, speaker of the People’s Assembly, Egypt’s lower house of parliament, said that the bill submitted by the National Democratic Party (NDP), stipulates terms of reference for a higher ad hoc committee to supervise the election and sets rules for candidates’ campaigns before the poll.
“The bill states that the presidential election committee composed by high profile judges and public figures will be treated as a public legal entity, which will have its own budget and will be fully independent,” said Srour. “The 10-member committee will be responsible for examining candidates’ applications and will announce the results in the national papers,” he told Arab News.
Srour said that the official date for candidates to send their applications is set on July 18, confirming that the elections will be held in the second half of September. He added that some 10 Egyptian parties said they will nominate presidential candidates.
In related news, some 800 Egyptians led by the Kefaya (Enough) movement, held a candlelight protest in central Cairo at the grave of the 1919 revolution leader Saad Zaghloul. The protestors stood up in the dark for two hours carrying banners that read, “We want real freedom...our struggle will continue.” They changed the national anthem into “Enough enough...we had enough”.
Leader of the controversial Ghad Party, Ayman Nour, who attended for the first time a Kefaya demonstration, told Arab News that he decided to support the group after they were attacked by the NDP sympathizers.
“I’m here because we all work for the sake of the country and we all want a free, democratic election and a chance for all potential candidates to take part,” said Nour. “I have decided that if I win the elections I will only stay for one term in office and then give a chance for other people to come and rule the country,” he explained, adding that he reconciled with the opposition Al Wafd Party in order to strengthen the voice of the opposition in the country.
