A coalition of Egyptian opposition parties has nominated 350 candidates for the upcoming People's Assembly elections. The sundry coalition, which includes Geel (Generation), Shabab Masr (Egypt Youth), Arab Socialist Party, Ghad, Ahrar, Egyptian Green Party and Takaful (Solidarity Party), has agreed on a unified slate of nominees that will vie for 82 constituencies, mostly located in Cairo and Alexandria. A coalition statement yesterday, delivered at the Arab Socialist Party headquarters, declared the establishment of a supreme commission to run the nomination process, and announced the formation of a fund financed by member parties to support the candidates. Egyptian political parties notoriously suffer from financial strain. The coalition's members categorically rejected the idea of boycotting the elections. Chairmen of the respective parties stressed that the alliance would not detract from the legitimacy of individual parties. They added that the coalition decided to make its member parties free to nominate their own choice of candidates in a number of provincial constituencies. On his behalf, the head of Ghad Party Moussa Mostafa Moussa, pressed the regime to answer calls demanding transparency in November's elections, warning that opposition parties will take legal actions should they be barred from holding popular conferences. Wahid al-Oqsory, chairman of the Arab Socialist Party, derided some opposition calls for a boycott. “The NDP does not care who takes part and who does not, we better run the elections in order to expose the negatives.” Helmy Salem, chairman of Ahrar Party, said that the coalition will not cease its participation in any upcoming elections. He said he believed the occasion will be an opportunity for the parties to effectively penetrate the political scene. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
