(AFP FILE PHOTO/KHALED DESOUKI)
Al-Tayar Al-Sha’aby, a political organisation currently collecting signatures to reach the legal quota required to register as political party and compete in the upcoming parliamentary elections, condemned the appearance of several Mubarak era parliamentarians on national television.
The group declared that such “appearances can jeopardise societal peace and are an insult to the will and desires of the masses which took to the streets to defy elements of the Mubarak regime, and chose a new constitution after ousting the Muslim Brotherhood regime”.
In a Monday statement, the group said that the national television network hosted several parliamentary contenders who were members of the 2010 parliament for the National Democratic Party (NDP) of former president Hosni Mubarak on Saturday. One of them was Ahmed Ezz, a steel tycoon and the secretary-general of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP).
The 2010 elections were marred by fraud, human rights violations, and violence, according to Amnesty International.
The Cairo High Court prosecuted a number of former NDP officials, including Ezz, for orchestrating the rigging of the elections, which gave NDP representatives a 99% majority.
Ezz was released from jail on bail after standing trial for two separate cases over three years since the outbreak of the 25 January Revolution.
While Ezz first received a cumulative sentence of 60 years in prison for all of his cases, all of his appeals have been accepted and he has been cleared of all charges.
State-media reported that Ezz is planning to compete in the coming elections with other former NDP members. They will run for individual seats rather than under a party label.
The upcoming parliamentary elections are the third pillar of the roadmap that was announced by the interim government after the ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
The Electoral Districts Committee finished the draft of the Electoral Districts Law on Tuesday. It will be discussed by the cabinet on Wednesday, according to state owned newspaper Al-Ahram.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said in a meeting with a delegation of US business representatives on Monday that the coming parliamentary elections will take place before the end of March 2015.
One of several electoral coalitions gearing up for the elections, that includes leading figures who are known to have supported Mubarak, the NDP, and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), is the “Egyptian Front”.
The coalition includes civil parties formed during ousted president Mubarak’s rule, including the leftist Al-Tagammu Party. Other newly established parties in the coalition are the Conference Party, My Homeland Egypt Party founded by former interior minister Ahmed Gamaleddin, and the Egyptian Patriotic Movement founded by Mubarak’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.
The coalition depends on several well-known public figures in business, politics, and the media.
The coalition has been supporting Al-Sisi’s government and is expected to act as a strong contender in acquiring the majority of seats in the upcoming elections, especially in light of the absence of Islamist parties.
