68 people withdrew candidacy ahead of Egyptian House election race

CAIRO – 9 October 2020: The National Election Authority (NEA) said that 68 people have withdrawn their nomination as candidates at the upcoming House of Representatives election set to take part later this year.

The window for candidacy withdrawal has been closed on Wednesday.

According to the House law and amendments, each candidate has the right to withdraw his candidacy by the war determined by the NEA, through 48 hours after the final list of candidates is announced.

A total of 4,006 individual candidates and eight parties’ lists were accepted to run in the parliamentary elections, which is set to kick off on October 21, the National Elections Authority (NEA) announced late in September, before the 68 withdrawals.

The NEA called on those who want to run for the elections to register their data as of September 17 till September 26.

Two lists in Cairo, and south and center Delta were accepted including: The National Unified List for Egypt, and Call of Egypt electoral alliance (in Arabic Nedaa Masr Coalition). Both lists were also accepted in Northern, center and southern Upper Egypt, and eastern Delta. While in western Delta sector the National Unified List for Egypt and Sons of Egypt list were accepted.

The NEA explained that a number of hopefuls were excluded off the candidacy lists due to incomplete data registration like submitting a proof the potential candidate has either fulfilled military service or was exempted. 

Being the supervisor of these elections, the NEA affirmed that it has been at a distance from everyone, and operates within a single framework governed by transparency and integrity, bearing in mind the supremacy of the rule of law.

Some conditions were set, upon which parliament hopefuls are required to meet some conditions, in order to be able to run in parliamentary polls. These conditions include a medical check-up document showing that he/she tests negative for drugs.

A candidate should be not less than 25 years old, born to Egyptian parents, holder of at least a basic education certificate and finalized or exempted from military service.

According to the elections schedule, electioneering propaganda will begin as of October 5 and until October 18 for the governorates of the first phase, followed by elections silence. The same happens for the governorates of the second phase, which starts on October 18 and ends on November 1.

The authority set L.E. 500,000 as publicity limit for each individual candidate, and in case of run-off, the limit goes down to L.E. 200,000. While for the 42-seat parties, the publicity limit is L.E. 2.5 million, and in case of run-off, the limit will be L.E. 1 million, and for the 100-seat parties, the limit goes to L.E. 5 million, and in case of run-off, it will be L.E. 2 million.