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Campaigning period for Egypt presidential poll kicks off Monday Thirteen presidential candidates will have until 21 May to sell their respective visions for Egypt's future to a wary public
Monday marked the official start of the campaigning period for candidates in next month's presidential polls, according to regulations laid down by Egypt's Supreme Presidential Elections Commission (SPEC). The campaigning period will end on 21 May. The SPEC has set a maximum campaign budget of LE10 million for each presidential candidate, along with an LE2 million maximum for campaigning before the runoff round of voting. The SPEC has banned the use of religious establishments for campaigning, along with government buildings and public transport facilities. The commission has also banned the broadcast or publication of electoral polling results without providing the questions that respondents were asked, the sample size used, and the name of the entity that funded the poll in question. Each presidential candidate will be provided with 60 minutes of free airtime on national television and radio in which to explain his political programme. Most presidential candidates began their campaigning activities and publicising their programmes weeks before the official commencement of the campaigning period. The period set for formally registering presidential candidacies ended on 8 April and a final candidate list – containing a total of13 contenders – was announced on 26 April. Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential elections will take place on 23 and 24 May, with a runoff vote slated for 16 and 17 June in the event that no single candidate wins an outright majority in the first round. The new president will be formally named on 21 June. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/40508.aspx
