Members at the ruling National Democratic Party’s provincial wings are harshly criticizing the party after the announcement of the list of its candidates for Shura Council elections to be held in June.
One member, Mohamed Ismail el-Daadaa, submitted his resignation to Gamal Mubarak, head of the party’s Policies Secretariat, arguing that the candidates chosen lack the confidence of both the public and party members. He said that the selections are at odds with the party’s selection process. El-Daadaa, a member of the Policies Secretariat, said that the selections undermine the processes of the Policies Secretariat.
In Damietta, NDP members threatened to boycott the the selection process for candidates in October’s People’s Assembly elections, labeling them as “a fake democratic decoration.”
In Sohag, citizens in the villages Awlad el-Sheikh and Ezbet el-Nemr threatened to file a lawsuit to stop the next electoral procedures in el-Dwueirat constituency. They complain that their electoral center is located at el-Raza village, seven kilometers away, but say there is not transportation to the polling places, which deprives them of their votes.
In Qalyubiya, the general committee for the Shura Council elections excluded the candidacy application of Nahed Abdel Latif Salem, a nominee for Banha and Kafr Shukr, claiming that she does not in fact qualify as a worker. Salem plans to challenge the decision with a lawsuit before the Administrative Court, and said she will file a complaint against the head of the admittance office.
Salem, the only female in a race of nine candidates claimed that the applications have been manipulated in favor of the NDP candidate. She added that she had submitted her diploma certificate and evidence that she is not a member of a trade union, noting that by doing so, she is complying with the electoral requirements for running as a worker.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
