CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak has approved the final list of candidates representing the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in the coming Shoura Council (Upper House of Parliament) elections scheduled to start on June 11. According to Al Ahram daily newspaper, Safwat El Sherif, NDP secretary general, said the party will nominate 97 candidates, among them 49 representing workers. The 97 candidates, according to El Sherif, will be competing for 88 seats representing 67 different districts. The council has a total of 264 members, of which 174 are elected and 88 are appointed by Mubarak for six-year terms. Only half of the Shoura Council is replaced every three years. The Shoura Council s legislative powers are limited. On most matters of legislation, the People's Assembly retains the last word in the event of a disagreement between the two houses. Moawad Khatab, NDP member of the Shoura Council told The Daily Star Egypt that the percentage of change in candidates is around 40 percent and added that in a few districts more than one candidate from the NDP will compete against another NDP member. Khatab indicated that the current representatives of Kasr El Nil and El Sayeda Zeinab districts who are from the NDP will run in the upcoming elections. According to Al Ahram daily, Mubarak has carefully chosen the nominees to run in the upcoming elections. Incumbents who will run for a second term are chosen according to services they provided and to the extent of acceptance by the residents of their respective districts. Khatab does not feel that the NDP is threatened by other parties. The NDP is running with very strong candidates and by God s will we will win 99.9 percent of the seats. According to Al Ahram daily both Al Wafd and El Nasseri political parties have announced their withdrawal from the upcoming elections, while El Tagamouah, Misr El Araby Al Ashtraky, El Wafak El Kawmy, El Gomhoury and Shabab Misr parties have all agreed to field candidates. Mounir FakhryAbdel Nour, secretary general of Al Wafd Party told The Daily Star Egypt two weeks ago that Al Wafd will refrain from participating in the Shoura Council's by-elections, in protest at what party officials say was the expected large scale vote rigging. Abdel Nour said that the parliament's recent attitude of disregarding opposition parties' opinions on the constitutional amendments and the political rights law for instance, are the reasons behind this decision. The most critical of these amendments was the removal of judicial supervision over polling stations. This will open the door wide open to vote rigging, many opposition parties believe. Abdel Nour added that Al Wafd is also going through a restructuring process, making it unfeasible to participate in the upcoming elections.
