Election campaigns for the Shura Council shift into high gear, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Intessar Nessim, chairman of the Higher Election Commission (HEC), announced that mid- term election campaigns for the Shura Council could begin on Monday after the window for appeals and complaints closed on Sunday, 16 May. "The campaigns will last until 30 May, the day before the poll," Nessim indicated. Nessim initially said that 509 candidates would be contesting the poll. On 11 May he reduced the total by eight after candidates belonging to the Constitutional and Wafd parties and the outlawed Brotherhood were removed from the list, most on the grounds of not having performed their military service. Then on Monday, Nessim announced that the total number of candidates had been cut to 490. " "Of the 575 candidates who registered, the papers of 48 were judged null and void," said Nessim. "Complaints and appeals against 13 others were accepted, while 24 withdrew from the race." According to Nessim, the HEC has fixed the maximum to be spent on individual campaigns at LE200,000. "In the run-off round," Nessim indicated, "the HEC ordered that the ceiling be upped from LE50,000 to LE100,000." He indicated that administrative committees will be tasked with guaranteeing that candidates abide by funding rules. "These committees will also ensure that candidates do not use religious slogans," said Nessim, warning that "those found guilty of raising religious slogans will be automatically removed from the list of candidates." In a press conference on Sunday, Minister of Information Anas El-Fiqi announced that candidates will be granted equal access to state television to explain their election programmes. "I want to emphasise that state media, including television and radio, will cover the Shura elections impartially and with transparency," said El-Fiqi, adding that "all candidates, whether independent or party-based, will have equal access to state television and radio channels." He urged private television satellite channels -- there were just 16 in 2007, when the last Shura elections were held, while now there are 56 -- to follow the same policy. "It is high time," he said, "that private channels displayed impartiality and transparency in their election coverage." The NDP announced that it would be campaigning under the slogan "For You", first adopted by the party's annual conference in September, 2009. NDP Secretary-General Safwat El-Sherif explained that public rallies will be held in all governorates during which NDP candidates will address the public. "Our programme is based on fighting unemployment, improving health and education services and offering pensions to the most needy, especially the rural poor," said El-Sherif. The successful registration of a number of Muslim Brotherhood candidates could strip the NDP of a landslide victory. A case in point is that in the district of Dessouq, affiliated to the Nile-Delta governorate of Kafr El-Sheikh, where the NDP's only female candidate, Hoda El-Tablawi, faces a tough battle against Brotherhood member Mohamed Wahbi Ismail. The latter has filed an appeal against El-Tablawi with the HEC, accusing his opponent of being implicated in issuing worthless cheques. The appeal was rejected. El-Tablawi, a graduate of the Faculty of Sport Education, owns a company producing fertilisers. Three Brotherhood deputies in the People's Assembly -- including Azab Mustafa in Giza, Ali Fath El-Bab in Helwan, and Ashraf Badreddin in Menoufiya -- pose a big threat to NDP candidates. The battle in south Cairo district of Helwan is expected to be among the toughest, with NDP candidate Ismail Nasreddin standing against the Brotherhood's Fath El-Bab and Abdel-Rahman Kheir, the Tagammu Party candidate who won the seat in the 2004 mid-term elections. The NDP also faces the possibility of a split vote, with dissenters from the party ranks standing as independents. The number of so- called NDP independents is estimated at between 300 and 350. Of the 92 official NDP candidates competing in 67 districts, some will win easily, while others are standing uncontested. Mohamed Abdallah, a member of the NDP secretariat- general and former president of Alexandria University, is running in the Alexandria district of Sidi Gaber and Al-Montaza, previously represented by NDP businessman Hisham Talaat Mustafa who is currently appealing his conviction on murder charges. Abdallah's chances of victory grew after the HEC decided to remove his Brotherhood rival Ali Barakat from the list of candidates after Barakat failed to produce documents certifying that he had performed military service. Other lucky NDP candidates include Minister of Waqf (religious endowments) Mohamed Hamdi Zaqzouq in the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahliya; Mohamed Heiba in the east Cairo district of Nozha and Hamdi Khalifa, chairman of the Bar Association, in Giza. The exact number of Brotherhood affiliated candidates remains uncertain. The group's leaders say they are fielding 14 candidates in 11 governorates. This number, however, was reduced to 12 after two were removed from the list of candidates. Several reports, however, suggest that the number of Brotherhood candidates could be more than 20. "I think the Brotherhood was able to field a reserve of secret candidates," says Al-Ahram analyst Amr Elshobaki. Elshobaki believes that "the security forces and HEC are well aware of the Brotherhood's tactics, recalling how, in 2007, the elections were manipulated so as to strip the Brotherhood of any success," a scenario he expects to be repeated. Brotherhood officials issued a statement in which they affirmed that their slogan "Islam is the solution" will be adopted in the Shura elections. "The slogan was approved by the Supreme Administrative Court in the elections of the People's Assembly in 2000, and it conforms with Article 2 of the constitution which states that Islamic Sharia is the main source of legislation in Egypt," said the statement. "In its political programme," the statement continued, "the Brotherhood calls for amending articles 76, 77 and 88 of the constitution in order to regulate the organisation of presidential elections and terms and parliamentary elections on more democratic grounds." The programme, notes Elshobaki, says nothing of "the role and position of women and Copts in the Brotherhood's supposed democracy". The final list includes 59 non-NDP party-based candidates representing 12 parties. The Wafd, Tagammu and the Nasserists are fielding 25 candidates between them. Nine minor parties are fielding a total of 34 candidates. The most significant is Moussa Mustafa Moussa, chairman of the Ghad Party, running in south Giza. Moussa has said he hopes to use success in the Shura elections to launch a presidential bid in 2011.
