Egypt's Higher Electoral Commission urged around 30 million Egyptian voters to head to the ballot boxes tomorrow in the mid-term election of the Shura Council (the Upper House of Egypt's Parliament), in which 446 hopefuls are running in 55 constituencies across the nation. "Egyptians are urged to practice their legal and constitutional right to vote. They should cast their ballots and choose their representatives in the Shura Council," said Judge Intisar Nassim, the head of the Higher Electoral Commission. He added that voters should take part in the election process in order that the results would express their real desires. "However, those who do not cast their vote in tomorrow's election without an acceptable excuse will be fined LE100 ($18), in accordance with the law. Those nonvoters are negative citizens," Nassim said in a press conference Sunday. Nassim, who heads a Cairo Preliminary Court, pointed out that all electoral campaigning stopped as of yesterday according to a previously set date. "All electoral campaigns stopped Sunday night. They can be resumed if a re-run is declared by the committee," he said, adding that the re-run for the vote will be on June 8. Eighty-eight seats in the Shura Council are contested by 115 candidates from 13 political parties, including the ruling National Democratic Party, and 331 independent candidates. President Hosni Mubarak will appoint another 44 Members of Parliament to the 264-strong house. The Shura Council was created by late president Anwar Sadat in 1980. Half of the Council is renewed every three years. It reviews laws before handing them to the People's Assembly (the Lower House) for a final vote. Safwat el-Sherif, the chairman of the Shura Council, hailed the elections this year as very important, due to the fact that the wining candidates would determine those who would have the ability to run for Egypt's top post next year. "Being elected as a member in the Shura Council has become very important, as parties or independents who want to vie for Egypt's presidency should have representation in the two houses," el-Sherif said. Around 13 candidates, all members of the NDP were declared winners of the election as they ran unopposed in their constituencies. The banned Muslim Brotherhood, which has 88 seats of People's Assembly, has 12 candidates in this vote. Analysts say turnout for the Shura vote is typically extremely low, and the large constituencies for each seat in the Shura Council mean that many Egyptians have little idea about who is standing for election.
