A new elections coalition has been agreed upon between four political parties that will see a joint list with agreed-on individual candidates running in the elections. The parties who form the new alliance are liberals Al-Wafd, the oldest active party in Egypt, the Conference Party, founded by veteran diplomat and former presidential elections candidate Amr Moussa, Al-Ghad and the leftist Al-Tagammu. All terms of agreement between the parties have been agreed on officially and an official announcement will be made likely Wednesday, said Al-Tagammy Party's spokesman Nabil Zaky. Mohamed Moussa, spokesman for the Conference Party, said talks are still ongoing, but within a few hours the vision will become clearer. Both parties' officials confirmed that the newly formed coalition will run candidates on all seats in both individual and list systems. Elections are set to begin on 21 March and last until early May in the case of a second round-up poll. These will be the second parliamentary elections since the 2011 uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak, and the first since the ouster of Morsi in 2013. Islamists won a majority of seats in the 2011-2012 parliamentary elections, but the parliament was dissolved in June 2012 upon a court order, which considered the elections law unconstitutional. Door will open for candidates to apply for the upcoming elections on 8 February, and candidates are currently required to undergo medical examination before applying to the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC). In other coalitions, disagreements loom on the horizon in the Democratic Current coalition, as Al-Karama party appears insistent on participating in the upcoming elections, despite concerns from other parties in the coalition The Socialist Popular Alliance Party, a member of the coalition that saw policemen shoot one of its members at a small protest on 24 January, vowed Thursday it will not participate in upcoming parliamentary elections unless the government responds to their demands. Al-Dostour Party also announced on 26 January that participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections will be "difficult" amid the current security crackdown. Official figures say that at least 23 people have been reported dead following clashes, with over 150 arrested during the violence that overshadowed the fourth anniversary of 25 January Revolution. However, Al-Karama party spokesman Tarek Said that the coalitions meetings did not see parties making decisions about participation in the elections. "Such decisions are taken within the parties' higher committees and not in the coalition meetings," explained Said. He confirmed that the party's higher committee previously agreed on participation in the elections and this decision remains valid unless the committee convenes and make a new decision on this issue. Another prominent coalition that will participate in the upcoming elections, and which appears to have the best chances of success, is led by former prime minister and veteran politician Kamal Al-Ganzoury. Such expectations were reflected in President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's meeting with political parties' leaders on 12 and 13 January. In the meeting, politicians asked if he would support Al-Ganzoury and his electoral list for parliamentary elections, as the government's representative candidates. Al-Sisi's reported answer was ‘No', and that his stance was going to remain neutral, unless all political groups came under one coalition, which he would in that case support.
