The state-affiliated National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) suspended the activities of two of its members who are running as candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The decision particularly concerns members Hafez Abu Seada and Mohamed Abdel Aziz. According to the NCHR's official spokesperson Amgad Fathy on Wednesday, the reason behind the decision is to guarantee electoral transparency and prevent a conflict of interests as the NCHR is among the local observers of parliamentary elections. "Their memberships are still valid, but we will have to suspend their work at the NCHR until elections are over," Fathy told Daily News Egypt Wednesday. "We simply do not want to hear comments later on our observatory report that would suggest we were biased," Fathy added. Abu Seada is a candidate of the Conservative Party (Al-Mohafezeen), running for the elections in the district of Maadi in Cairo. The Administrative Court that looks into appeals on candidates for the parliamentary elections upheld his candidacy. As for Abdel Aziz, running for seats in the Shubra El-Kheima constituency, he said Monday that he submitted a request to the NCHR demanding they suspend his activities for the same reasons.
