In its third consecutive session, Parliament has again attacked candidates competing in the presidential election, with parliamentarians from the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party accusing the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of backing Ahmed Shafiq.
They warned of adding illegally names of army and police personnel, who are banned from participating in the election, to voter registration lists.
MP Mohamed al-Adl claimed that there are large-scale attempts by the National Security Agency and cadres of the dissolved National Democratic Party to back a certain presidential candidate who had once said he would not allow the Muslim Brotherhood to rule the country.
He added that he has proof of 80 names of police and army personnel that have been added to the lists.
Leftist presidential candidate Abul Ezz al-Hariry claimed that rigging already took place in certain Egyptian embassies in the Gulf, and called for a parliamentary committee to monitor the voting.
The SCAF renewed its statement that it is impartial to all candidates, leaving the Egyptian people to decide based on their own free will, and vowing to conduct the election in a manner that all the world would praise.
In a report on Tuesday evening, Reuters said that at least two parties dominated by members of the dissolved NDP support Shafiq, who served as the last prime minister under former President Hosni Mubarak.
But Shafiq's presidential campaign on Wednesday denied reports by Reuters that he was using former offices of the dissolved National Democratic Party.
Campaign officials said in a statement that a Reuters news agency report concerning Shafiq’s use of the headquarters was “completely false and reflects the lack of professionalism, accuracy and verification of the editor of the report, which was published by several Egyptian newspapers.”
Reuters later corrected the story to say "some members from at least two parties," not the parties themselves.
