50 Muslim Brotherhood candidates in Egyptian Parliamentary Polls 1st Phase

50 Muslim Brotherhood candidates in Egyptian Parliamentary Polls 1st Phase


By Hussein Abd El Zaher


First round of  Egypt’s Parliamentary elections has kicked off early  this morning with 1635 different partisan and independent contenders contesting 164 seats in 82 constituencies. The polls are held in eight governorates, that’s, Cairo, Giza, Menofeya, Bani Suef, El Menya, Assiut, Al Wadi Al Gadid (The New Valley) and Matrouh..


Muslim Brotherhood group fielded 50 candidates to run in 45 constituencies in the above mentioned governotrates, except for Marsa Matrouh and Al Wadi Al Gadid.


The outfit’s most prominent cadres contesting  in this year’s polls include : Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a lawyer and Muslim preacher, who runs in Al Dokki constituency against National Democratic Party’s candidate former minister of Social Affairs Mrs. Amal Othman;  Dr. Abd El Hai El Faramawi, a professor at Al Azhar university, who runs in Hadaeq Al Qobba constituency (eastern Cairo); Dr. Makarem Al Deiri, a literary criticism professor—the only Muslim Brotherhood’s female candidate in the elections—who contests in Nasr City constituency (eastern Cairo) against the NDP’s contender businessman Mustafa Al Sallab; and Khaled Abd El Qader Ouda in Assiut (Upper Egypt).


Dr. Muhammad Ali Beshr,  member of Muslim Brotherhood’s  Supreme Guidance council and secretary general of Engineer’s Syndicate was ruled out by an Egyptian judiciary authorities  from running in his own constituency in El Menofeya governorate (in Delta). This is because he was jailed for 5 years by a military court’s decree in the 1998’s so-called Syndicators’ Case.       
 
Voting has  begun at 8 am and is due to continue till 7 pm. Then vote sorting will follow in order to announce the election returns next Thursday’s noon.


Meanwhile, runoffs is scheduled for November 15 in cases where contenders don’s win the elections