Wafd Party members Galal Salim and Yehia Zakria have been added to the list of candidates for the party's chairmanship, bringing the total number of candidates to five. Mahmoud Abaza, the current chairman, el-Sayyed el-Badawy, a member of the party's Higher Committee, and Talaat Gad Allah, a General Secretariat member, had also declared their candidacies on the first day of nominations. Abaza noted that any member of the Wafd Party is eligible to be a candidate as long as he or she meets three conditions: being members of the party for at least one year, a good participation record, and membership in the party's General Secretariat. In related news, Abaza's supporters have begun a tour around Egypt to drum up support for their candidate. Munir Fakhry Abdel Nour, the party's general secretary, traveled to southern Egypt more than a week ago and has conducted meetings with members of the party committees in the area. He met with Yasin Tag Eddin, who told Al-Masry Al-Youm that party leaders who have worked with Abaza want to continue doing so in order to further his reform initiatives. "These meetings do not mean that we are exploiting our positions to support the campaign of one candidate against another, for all the candidates are colleagues and members of the party," Tag Eddin said. El-Sayyed el-Badawy continued his campaign tour through Egypt's governorates, meeting with party members in Fayoum yesterday. After initially supporting Fouad Badarawy's candidacy for chairman, El-Badawy then handed the nomination himself. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
