Political parties scheduled a meeting for Tuesday evening in Al-Wafd party's headquarters to sign a document obliging their participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections with a joint list. Participating parties will continue discussions to form the list and to set criteria for candidates chosen for the list, according to a statement from Al-Wafd's chairman El-Sayed El-Badawy. Nineteen political parties met at the Al-Wafd Party's headquarters Saturday to prepare a joint list of candidates who will run for the parliamentary elections, scheduled to start in March. The meeting came after President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met with party leaders last week, during which he reportedly encouraged parties to form a united coalition, which he would support. Al-Wafd Party took the lead in calling for an electoral union described by the party's press statements on their official Facebook page as "a response to Al-Sisi's suggestion". Al-Wafd Secretary General Bahaa Abu Shaqa said Monday that the meeting will see the parties sign a political document formalising the new coalition, according to Al-Wafd. "This list is a national mission," said Abu Shaqa. "We welcome everyone to join and the door is still open for them." Other major parties and coalitions who did not attend the meeting include the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (ESDP), the coalition headed by former prime minister Kamal Al-Ganzoury and Civil Democratic Union coalition. Al-Sisi expressed, during the meeting with the political parties, his desire to see all political forces united into "one inclusive coalition" that he would then endorse. Party leaders informed Al-Sisi of their suspicions about the candidacy of political tycoon Al-Ganzoury, according to Al-Nour Party President Younis Makhioun. Al-Sisi assured them he was not behind Al-Ganzoury's candidacy. The electoral list is composed of four districts for which 120 candidates will be elected by voters during the parliamentary elections. The elected members are to be distributed according to the geographical division of constituencies. The distribution according to the law divides the list into two 45-name lists and two 15-name lists covering the entire country. Besides those 120 elected candidates, 420 others run as individual candidates, either as part of a political party or independently.
