CAIRO: Egyptian activists, including several prominent liberal youth coalitions, have called for a mass marches on Friday October 28 to protest against the inclusion of former regime members in upcoming parliamentary elections. The protest will begin with a digital demonstration on October 26, organized by activists on Facebook. The “Friday of Political Isolation,” protest will call upon authorities to ban members of former President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) from participating in elections. Registration for election candidates began on October 12. An overwhelming number of former NDP members have registered for the race, worrying many who called for an outright ban on the political inclusion of any political associated with the former regime. Many fear that former NDP candidates will manipulate elections through practices of vote buying and corruption, or by playing off of family and tribal ties, as they have in the past. Egypt's interim ruling military government, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), discussed a proposed reactivation of a 1952 Treason Law, which would ban former NDP members from politics for five years. However, the SCAF has expressed no intentions of implementing the ban. Friday's protest will also call upon the government to grant Egyptian nationals living abroad the right to vote in the upcoming elections, expected to begin in the end of November. Candidate registration for parliamentary elections will close today, Monday, at 5 PM. BM
