Ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) candidates are competing against each other, as well as against independents and opposition candidates in several hotly-contested electoral districts. In Tanta, the first district in the governorate of Gharbiya, NDP candidates Ahmed Shubeir (a famous sports commentator) and Yassir Al-Gindi are competing against each other and 14 other candidates for the professionals' seat, reports state-run daily Al-Ahram. Strong competitors include Muslim Brotherhood (MB) candidate Mohammed al-Sayid Abdul Moneim, and experienced independent Ibrahim Awara. NDP candidate Mohamed Aribi is competing against MB parliamentarian Al-Sheikh Sayyid Askar for the workers' seat. Ten other candidates, including one from the Wafd opposition party and another from the leftist Tagammu party, are competing for the same seat. “NDP vs. NDP in Tanta's biggest electoral battle,” read a headline in state-run daily Al-Akhbar. According to the report, 13 candidates--four of which belong to the NDP--are competing in the district. The NDP battle is between journalist Osama and former MP Mohammed Mohsen Abdul Akhar. No MB candidate will be running in the district. In other districts, the NDP is trying to stave off MB competition. In the district of Kanater in 6 October, the NDP nominated three strong candidates for the professionals' seat in an attempt to ensure that the seat does not go to MB candidate Sayyid Saleh or Tagammu Party candidate Ismail Attiya, reports privately-owned weekly Youm 7. In Sohag's first district, two NDP candidates running for the professionals' seat, including Hazem Hamadi, are facing strong competition from MB candidate Mokhtar al-Beih, reports independent daily Al-Dostour. Al-Beih defeated Hamadi in 2005 elections and had occupied the seat for two years until Hamadi obtained a court ruling giving him the seat. In the Zarkaa district of Damietta, three NDP candidates for the professionals' seat face strong competition from MB candidate Saad Imara, according to Youm 7. Some powerful independent candidates, including excluded NDP candidate Ismail Al-Daadaa and businessman Talaat Ismail--who was excluded from the NDP list in the last Shura Council elections--are running for the same seat. For the workers' seat, two NDP candidates are facing popular Wafd Party candidate Amran Mugawed. In several other districts, NDP candidates face challenges from other opposition candidates, as well as from excluded NDP candidates. In the governorate of Fayoum, the NDP, Wafd, MB, and Tagammu are all competing over two seats reserved for women, reports Youm 7. According to the report, some excluded NDP candidates are expected to support Wafd Party candidate Amani Zaki. Young MB members have launched several electoral campaigns for MB candidate Nagwa Mahmoud Gouda on social-networking website Facebook. In the district of Al-Hamul and Al-Burulus, competition is fierce over the workers' seat. Karama Party candidate Hamdin Sabahi and Wafd Party independent Mohammed al-Agroud are competing against NDP candidate Essam Abddul Ghaffar and excluded NDP candidates, according to Youm 7. Excluded NDP candidates include Mohammed al-Kassas and Hassan Shams, who were shocked to find out that the ruling party had refrained from nominating them and vowed to work with the opposition against the NDP. Abdul Ghaffar had allied himself with Sabahi in 2005, which compelled supporters of the NDP candidate for the professionals' seat--Ahmed Megahid--to seek revenge by allying themselves with Sabahi against Abdul Ghaffar. In the Daqahliya district of Dakarnas, excluded NDP candidates have allied themselves with Wafd Party candidate Al-Sayyid Farag, according to Youm 7. In other news, Al-Ahram reports that the final count of candidates indicates that 5181 nominees--4801 of whom are competing for regular seats, and 380 for women's seats--will run in this month's elections. According to the report, administrative courts have ruled that 145 excluded NDP candidates could run as independents. In Kafr al-Sheikh, 57 excluded NDP candidates have been allowed to run. The NDP lost four candidates in Kafr al-Sheikh due to its failure to provide proof of their status as workers. The legal committee concerned with adjudicating the status of candidates has excluded ten MB candidates, five in Alexandria and five in Sharqiya, according to Al-Gomhuriya. Al-Ahram, meanwhile, reports that the MB lost four candidates in Alexandria.
