Most opposition parties will not be nominating candidates for next month's Shura Council mid-term elections. Gamal Essam El-Din reports The National Democratic Party (NDP) candidates for May's Shura Council mid-term elections began registering their names on 28 April and registration will continue until 2 May. Kamal El- Shazli, the NDP's secretary for organisational affairs and minister of state for parliamentary affairs, said the ruling party is nominating 90 candidates in constituencies in 24 governorates (all the governorates except for Ismailia and the New Valley). The 90 candidates will be running for 88 seats in 76 constituencies. The list of candidates, which was endorsed on 22 April by President Hosni Mubarak in his capacity as NDP chairman, was released on Monday. El-Shazli said that in selecting its 90 candidates for the Shura Council mid-term elections, the party adopted the "electoral college" system. El-Shazli indicated that 441 candidates competed for winning the party's official approval for candidacy in the Shura Council's mid-term elections. "The ones who obtained the highest number of votes are the ones who were approved to be the party's official candidates," said El-Shazli. Held for the second time in its 23-year history, the Shura Council mid-term elections will be conducted in three stages between 23 May and 19 June. In the first stage, on 23 May, candidates will vie for 31 seats in eight governorates (Giza, Qalyubiya, Menoufiya, Beheira, Fayoum, Beni Sueif, Qena and North Sinai). The NDP nominated three candidates in Menoufiya's district of Ashmoun. Run-off elections will be held on 29 May. In the second stage on 3 June, candidates will stand for 28 seats in another eight governorates (Sharqiya, Daqahliya, Damietta, Gharbiya, Suez, Sohag, South Sinai and the Red Sea). Run-off elections will be held on 9 June. The last stage, on 13 June, will witness candidates running for 29 seats in the remaining eight governorates (Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Kafr Al-Sheikh, Minya, Assiut, Aswan and Marsa Matruh). Run-off elections will be held on 19 June. In compliance with a 2000 ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC), the Shura Council mid-term elections will be placed under the full supervision of the judiciary. More than 7,500 judges are expected to supervise around 900 vote-counting and 7,200 polling stations. The number of voters at each polling station is not to exceed 1,500. NDP leaders are assured of a landslide victory. Not only do the party's candidates include prominent public figures and business tycoons, but also most opposition parties have decided to boycott the vote. The NDP's most prominent figures include the Shura Council's incumbent Chairman Mustafa Kamal Helmi (Heliopolis, Cairo), Minister of Waqf (religious endowments) Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq (Talkha, Daqahliya), Secretary of the Local Administration Ministry Mohamed El-Sayed Sheta (Aga, Daqahliya), secretary-general of the cabinet Safwat El-Nahhas (Shebin Al-Kom, Menoufiya), and Sherif Wali, the nephew of Agriculture Minister Youssef Wali. The list also includes a number of leading businessmen such as Hisham Talaat Mustafa, brother of a current MP and the son of an Alexandria business tycoon and former MP. Mustafa, who is chairman of the board for Al-Rehab Construction Company, will be running in Alexandria's Sidi Gaber. Many NDP members, however, are crying foul, claiming that the party's electoral college system was poorly applied. Rifaat Rashad, a journalist and NDP member, told Al-Ahram Weekly that rather than creating the transparent selection of candidates, the electoral college system led to a proliferation of bribes and vote buying. "The problem is that this system came in favour of businessmen who are intent on acquiring parliamentary immunity and political prestige irrespective of any costs," said Rashad. NDP members also wondered why Khalifa Hassanein, a veteran Shura NDP figure whose membership has been stripped twice on grounds of improper behaviour, was once again the party's official candidate in South Cairo. The electoral college was introduced in the wake of NDP's poor performance in the 2000 parliamentary elections. NDP leaders said at the time that the American-style electoral system would democratise the party's internal structures and help create transparency in picking the party's best candidates. Meanwhile, most major opposition parties said they will not field candidates or will allow their members to stand as independents. Gamal Badawi, a leading member of the Wafd Party, said the Wafd is not interested in contesting Shura elections. Noman Gomaa, chairman of the Wafd Party, said on Sunday that since the NDP insists on monopolising political life, there is no point in opposition parties participating in the Shura Council or local council elections. "Participating in elections is a futile experience because the NDP can not accept any result except for winning 90 per cent to 100 per cent of the vote," said Gomaa. The two leftist parties of the Tagammu Party and the Arab Nasserists also do not plan to field candidates in the Shura Council's mid-term elections, but for another reason. According to Tagammu Party Chairman Rifaat El-Said, campaigning is too costly for the party's modest financial resources. El-Said has been an appointed member of the Shura Council since 1995. Mindful of the crackdown of security forces on their activities, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood is also not expected to field any candidates. The Shura Council, which has no legislative powers, is made up of 246 members. Two-thirds of them are chosen by secret ballot in general elections and the remaining one third are appointed by the president. A member's term of office lasts for six years, but one-half of the elected and appointed members are chosen by lot to lose their seats after three years. Those randomly chosen to lose their seats are eligible for re-election or re-appointment.
