- DemocracyElection Coverage
- September 22, 2010
- 2 minutes read
Wafd Party: Priorities lie in restoring our former glory
Wafd Party leader Al-Sayed al-Badawi, announced that he would not run in Egypt ‘s upcoming parliamentary or presidential elections, stressing that his priorities were to restore the party’s former glory.
In a recent television interview Badawi denied their were any agreements with the ruling National Democratic Party in return for seats in parliament highlighting that the party was well capable of competing with the NDP without the need for striking deals. He asserted that despite the fact that the regime did not respond to oppositions demands for guarantee for integrity in the elections the party will field a large number of candidates. He ascertained that he was against boycotting elections adding;
“We will participate in elections in order to publicly expose the vote-rigging that will take place,” he said, calling on the citizenry, civil society and electoral candidates themselves to ensure fair elections”.
Badawi contended that his party did enjoy popularity after conducting a street survey and that the NDP and Muslim Brotherhood although not an official party were his main competitors“.