CAIRO: Egypt's Higher Committee of Elections said it would start organizing parliamentary elections on Saturday for both the lower and upper houses and the judicial consultants would be chosen for the process, said Moez Ibrahim, head of the committee, on Monday night. Ibrahim announced that both elections will take place simultaneously with different committees supervising each. “These election will be far different from past elections and we are keen on organizing it well and removing names of illegible voters who remain on the registration lists,” Ibrahim added on ON TV, explaining that past “corruptions” would be removed and those mistakes will be avoided. He also confirmed that both elections will be fully independent and the ministry of interior will have no hand or say in the process from beginning to end. The infamous ministry was repeatedly accused of taking the side of the deposed National Democratic Party to the point of preventing voters from entering booths that had no NDP names in both the 2005 and 2010 polls. Ibrahim added that the judges who will supervise the process will be trained to meet the task. “There will be workshops and trainings at Cairo University and the judiciary institution train judges for the elections,” he said. The general assembly that will be formed soon will have full power over supervising all details and logistics concerning the elections and “how each nominee is allowed to spend funds on his or her campaign and the decisions will be announced to the public once they are made,” Ibrahim added. Elections had been scheduled for September 24, but have been pushed back until November by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in order to “allow for logistics to be sorted out,” the military junta announced earlier this month. BM
