CAIRO - Adeadline to accept appeals against candidates for the parliamentary elections later this month ended Thursday and final lists of hopefuls will be announced on Sunday, according to the Higher Election Commission. "The ad-hoc committees tasked with receiving appeals against candidates wrapped up its job . The vetting process will take two days," said Sameh el-Kashef, a spokesman for the commission. He added that the final lists would be announced on Sunday, when the official electoral campaigns start nationwide. "These campaigns should stop on November 27, a day before election day," el-Kashef said. The spokesman pointed out that most of the appeals were focusing on the candidates' electoral symbols and their running as workers, farmers and professionals. "The candidacy of some hopefuls are contested over running in more than one constituency like lawyer Mortada Mansour who has just dropped his candidacy in Doqqi and will run in Daqahlia governorate," el-Kashef said. The Higher Election Commission is an independent body headed by Jude el- Sayed Abdel Aziz Omar, the head of Cairo's Court of Appeals. It is responsible for following up on all stages of the polls. The November 28 elections for 508 seats of the people's Assembly (the Lower House of the Egyptian Parliament) will be contested by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), the banned Muslim Brotherhood whose members run as independents and three other major parties including Al-Wafd opposition party. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, meanwhile, said the vote manifesto of the ruling party launched by President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday was reviewed by Cabinet ministers each in his sector. "The manifesto is aimed at developing all the State sectors. We know it is very optimistic and ambitious. However, this was the case in the 2005 manifesto, which has been fully implemented," Nazif said. Mubarak on Wednesday re-affirmed that parliamentary elections will be free and fair, a day after rights groups reported restrictions on the opposition and media. Mubarak said his party would work for the country's poor who had not yet felt the benefits of the Government's economic reforms. The NDP had surprised many when it backed the candidacy of more than one or two candidates for the same seat, a move that was the focus of heated controversy this week. The banned Muslim Brotherhood has warned the Government to "beware" of the people's anger if it rigged the results of the parliamentary poll. "We are at a time that must see a rallying of efforts and all forces safeguarding the national ship before the (ruling) National Democratic Party sinks it," Mohamed Badie said on the group's website. The Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition movement despite a ban on religious parties, plans to contest 134 out of the 508 seats up for grabs in Parliament. The group controls a fifth of the sitting Parliament. Around 10 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood were detained by police Thursday in 6th of October Governorate outside for campaigning for the group's candidates, according to sources inside the group. A coalition of Egyptian rights groups has said that a governmental crackdown on opposition candidates will prevent free and fair parliamentary elections. Speaking at a press conference in Cairo Wednesday night, director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information Gamal Eid warned about limitations imposed on opposition candidates. Eid added that broad powers were granted by the Government to the Interior Ministry ahead of the polls.
