CAIRO - The Higher Election Commission (HEC), an independent body tasked with organising the upcoming parliamentary elections, Sunday announced the final lists of candidates for the November 28 polls, as election campaigns officially kicked off. "The security departments nationwide were provided with the final lists of independent hopefuls and those of political parties who will run for the 508 seats including 64 women-only seats," said Sameh el-Kashef, a spokesman for the commission. He added that all contenders would have a chance to withdraw from the polls until November 26. "All candidates contesting the elections are urged to be committed to the maximum financial spending set at LE200,000," el-Kashef said. Egypt will hold elections for the People's Assembly (the Lower House of Parliament) on November 28 on the same day in all its 29 governorates for the first time in decades. “Candidates should never use religious banners or intervene in the personal life of their rivals. The commission would take legal measures against those who violate these rules," the official told a press conference. The State-backed National Council of Human Rights (NCHR), meanwhile, allocated 75 landline and mobile phones to receive any complaints related to the elections during the campaigning, counting and other stages of the process. "The NCHR also set up an operations unit to follow up the vote,” said Mahmoud Karem, the Secretary-General of the NCHR. Deputy chief of the NCHR Moqbel Chaker said that the council would hold a meeting with representatives from embassies of the European Union, who officially requested to follow up the process. "A meeting will be held with representatives of the European embassies next Monday to discuss the legislative elections," Chaker was quoted by the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) as saying. He added that some representatives of European embassies would be allowed to attend the NCHR's operations unit on election day. Campaigning started as soon as the Higher Election Commission unveiled the final lists. More than 5,000 hopefuls have begun distributing flyers and holding rallies. Candidates for the banned Muslim Brotherhood, who run as independents, began their campaigns by visiting influential families in some Egyptian villages. “Campaigns started in villages while the main rallies will be organised on Eid el- Adha (tomorrow). The candidates and their followers will use the religious occasion to promote their programmes," read a statement on the group's official website. It added that there would be no open rallies. Meanwhile, the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), which has fielded more than 700 hopefuls, has unfurled big banners for his candidates carrying the symbols of the party and urging voters to support them. "The campaign varies from one place to another with rallies, banners, Internet ads and posters as well as televised programmes," a party official said. The election campaigns run for 13 days and they should be stopped one day before the elections. Al-Wafd Party, the biggest and oldest opposition party, launched its campaign with a big rally in the Delta Governorate of Daqahliya, where an estimated 2,000 people attended. It also started airing new ads on Egyptian official TVand some other privately owned TVs. Other political parties and independent candidates have devised new ways for wooing voters, including giving away meat and blankets to the poor. Some other candidates present new clothes to voters only if they are registered. One contender, who originally works as a doctor and a member of the ruling party, announced he would provide medical check-ups for voters and offer them medicines for free in his constituency in the Delta city of Qalubia, according to electorate from the same area.
