Thursday is the last day set by the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) for electoral campaigns. Observatory missions, the media and the SEC have reported numerous violations committed as parliamentary candidates advertised for themselves, including prospects that crossed the legal expenditure limits. An independent candidate who works as a preacher at the Endowment Ministry has been suspended and referred to investigations for allegedly printing his picture on the Quran. Parties are still making last-minute efforts to promote their stances. The largest political entity observed in the campaigning scene were members from the electoral coalition ran by security figure Sameh Seif El-Yazal, under the list known as "Fi Hob Misr". They displayed large banners across Cairo and Giza and other governorates, issued a televised advertisement, and a radio ad as well, amid their wide media presence in TV programmes. The group will seek during the second rounds to form political alliances with a number of independent candidates who have good chances of winning, aiming to form a bloc of at least 300 political figures inside the parliament. On the other hand, a rival parliamentary competitor, the Salafist Al-Nour Party, has opted for less media presence in private TV channels, which in turn have raised controversial debates on the party's religious background. Party figures focused more on personal meetings with the people, public conferences and so on, as Salafist leaders Yasser Al Borhamy, and Younes Makhioun are still participating in conferences ahead of the electoral silence period. Parliamentary elections will begin for Egyptians living abroad on Saturday, and will continue on Sunday. They will vote in Egyptian consulates and embassies as coordinated with the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Ministry. However, some Egyptians living abroad complained from difficulties they face, on top of which is the lack of information on the procedures and candidates.
This comes as the Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs Nabila Makram is visiting Jordan, accompanied by SEC's official spokesperson Omar Marwan, meeting with the Egyptian ambassador. According to state-run media MENA on Wednesday, the visit follows a trip to Kuwait, aimed at ensuring that procedures are in place for the parliamentary elections, and to encourage Egyptians abroad to cast their votes. There have been several local media campaigns calling on citizens to cast their votes in the elections, as it is unclear what the voter turnout will be at the moment. Elections for locals will take place on Sunday and Monday, in the first electoral phase, which includes 14 governorates of Upper Egypt and the West Delta. A total of 55,505,578 people are registered at the SEC as eligible voters. The highest category is 15,723,405 voters aged between 21 and 30.
According to a new report issued by Maat international observation mission on the elections, there have been 42 terrorism attempts this past week, most of which were aborted by security forces. Elections are to be secured by interior ministry forces along with military cooperation.
