CAIRO - Chairman of the Media Committee at the National Democratic Party Alieddin Helal liked to describe Sunday's Parliamentary elections as marking a “transformation” in Egypt's political life. Helal said this was the first time opposition candidates appeared on state TV to invite the electorate to vote for them. “You have also to look at the space given these candidates in the state-run media,” Helal said. “This is really unprecedented,” he told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview Sunday. He conceded to the presence of violations in several areas, but said they were normal because competition over the parliamentary seats was “so high”. “In some constituencies, we have dual party nominations over the same seat,” Helal said. “The word competition itself means that clash is likely,” he added.
