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| Africa North |
| Salafist Nour Party mobilised to win West Delta 15-seat constituency |
| 2015-10-11 |
| [Al Ahram] The ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party, the only Islamist party campaigning in Egypt's parliamentary elections, will have around 200 independents and 15 party-based candidates running. The first stage of the elections, scheduled for 17 to 28 October, will be held in 14 governorates. The Higher Election Committee (HEC) in charge of supervising the polls announced Saturday that there will be a total of 286 seats up for competition in this stage, with 2,573 independent candidates competing for 226 seats in 103 constituencies, and 240 party-based candidates competing for 60 seats in two constituencies. Senior Nour Party official Shaaban Abdel-Alim told Al-Ahram Online that "the party originally sought to field 220 independent candidates, but we have finally decided to reduce this number to less than 200 candidates." "Besides, we decided to field 60 candidates in just two -- rather than four -- party-based constituencies: the West Nile Delta constituency (with 15 seats), and the Cairo, South and Middle Delta constituency (with 45 seats)," Abdel-Alim said. "The party's officials agreed that we should focus on the party's power bases in the West Delta and Cairo constituencies rather than fielding candidates in all of Egypt," said Abdel-Alim, adding that "we know that we are facing a war from secular forces, but we want to send them a message that we want to be partners in the coming parliament rather than to be monopolisers." The last few days saw the party stepping up election campaigns in different constituencies. The party's chairman and former MP Younis Makhyoun toured 11 Upper Egypt governorates which form part of the first stage of the polls. "We do not have a list of party-based candidates in these governorates, but we do have many running as independents there," Abdel-Alim said. "In all of his tours, Makhyoun was keen to tell the party's candidates and supporters that the party stands behind the regime of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi as long as it achieves the national interests of the country and that the party puts the state's supreme interests above personal and partisan considerations." Abdel-Alim will be running as an independent in the Upper Egypt governorate of Beni Suef. The Nour Party's strongest power base is in the Nile West Delta constituency, which covers three governorates; Alexandria, Beheira and Marsa Matruh. Many of the party's candidates who won seats in the 2012 parliamentary elections are hoping to repeat their earlier success. |
| Posted by:Fred |