Candidacy applications for the House of Representatives' elections slated for October 18 surged right before Saturday's deadline, an election monitoring coalition has said.
According to the International-Local Mission to Observe the Parliamentary Elections, the total number of applicants reached 5,936 on Saturday, the last day of candidate registration. There were 899 more people applying for candidacy that day than the day before.
Seven lists were registered throughout the country, said the coalition. Among them, four were in the Cairo constituency: For the Love of Egypt, Nour Party, the Egyptian Front and Independence Current.
In Upper Egypt, three lists applied for candidacy: Nedaa Masr, National Awakening Bloc and For the Love of Egypt.
In the western Delta, six lists submitted their applications: For the Love of Egypt, Nour Party, the Egyptian Front, Independence Current, Nedaa Masr and Egypt Knights.
In the East Delta, only one list submitted its application, For the Love of Egypt.
The coalition said it detected election-related violations, most notably premature campaigning that violated the September 23 date set to begin candidate’s campaigns.
“The Mission monitored parliamentary candidates using youth centers in elections campaigns in many governorates, such as Sharqiya and Minya,” it said.
“Other candidates were observed using mosques and verses from the Quran in elections campaigns in Daqahliya; Sharqiya and Beheira,” the coalition added.
The International-Local Joint Mission to Observe the Parliamentary Election –Egypt 2015, is a coalition consisting of the Global Network for Rights and Development – Norway (GNRD) and the International Institute for Peace, Justice and Human Rights – Switzerland (IIPJHR). The key local partner is represented in MAAT for Peace, Development and Human Rights, in addition to 31 other local organizations.
