(DNE FILE PHOTO)
The Egyptian Front coalition will join an electoral alliance formed by Mubarak-era minister and current economic consultant to the Egyptian Presidency Kamal El-Ganzouri.
The announcement of their participation came in a statement posted on Friday on the front’s webpage.
Mustafa Bakri, journalist and Egyptian Front coalition spokesman, said on his official page that the front and El-Ganzouri’s alliance agreed to begin mutual cooperation ahead of the upcoming elections.
Bakri added that the Egyptian Front coalition reached an agreement with the Al-Wafd coalition to “establish a national electoral alliance that is not based on party divisions”.
The front will send a list of potential candidates to El-Ganzouri’s alliance which is expected to contest party-list seats only.
Although El-Ganzouri works in the Egyptian Presidency, Alaa Youssef spokesperson of the presidency told state run Al-Ahram that El-Ganzouri has the right to run as an individual and as an Egyptian citizen.
El-Ganzouri, former prime minister under the interim rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), was selected as presidential consultant for economic affairs in July 2013 by interim president Adly Mansour.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said last week that the upcoming parliamentary elections will take place before the end of March 2015.
On Friday, Minister of Transitional Justice Ibrahim El-Heneidi said the cabinet approved the draft of the preliminary electoral districts plan which was completed by the Electoral Districts Committee.
El-Heneidi added that the Electoral Districts Committee is currently working to base the number of districts with respect to the number of anticipated voters. The committee is also likely to include marginalised areas in the electoral districts such as the Hala’ib Triangle, Shalateen, and Nubia.
If the cabinet approves the preliminary draft, it will be returned to the committee to prepare the final draft. The committee will finalise it in two days following its return
The Egyptian Front is one of several electoral coalitions gearing up for the elections, that include leading figures known to have supported former regime figures and the SCAF.
The coalition, which depends on several well-known public figures in business, politics, and the media, met with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb on Tuesday to propose Elections Law amendments.
The coalition supports Al-Sisi’s government and is expected to act as a strong contender that could possibly win a majority of seats in the upcoming elections, especially in absence of Islamist parties.
Other Mubarak-era politicians expressed their willingness to run in the upcoming elections.
State-media reported that Ahmed Ezz, who was secretary-general of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP), is planning to compete in the coming elections with other former National Democratic Party (NDP) members. They will run for individual seats rather than under a party label.
Another two coalitions associated with the Mubarak regime, also strong supporters of Al-Sisi’s government, are the Tayar El-Istiqlal and the Ma’an Tahya Masr.
Tayar El-Istiqlal, lead by Ahmed El-Fadali, chairman of the Democratic Peace Party, is an anti-political Islam coalition containing political parties created under the Mubarak regime.
Ma’an Tahya Masr is dominated by retired military officers, and is aiming to gain large numbers of seats in the coming elections.
