(AFP File Photo)
Ahmed Shafiq, prime minister under former president Hosni Mubarak and former presidential candidate, will lead the Egyptian Patriotic Movement’s list in the upcoming parliamentary elections, according to Yahia Qadry, the movement’s Vice President.
Shafiq is set to head the movement’s list in the Cairo district and will compete for this district.
Qadry, who is also Shafiq’s lawyer, said in a statement that he has presented a request for the prosecutor general to remove his client’s name from the ban lists. He also said in an interview on privately owned satellite channel Al-Qahera Wal-Nas, that the return of his client to the political scene will give the elections “more stability”. He added that Shafiq’s running will also “prevent elements of the Muslim Brotherhood group participating in the elections”.
Shafiq is the head of the Egyptian Patriotic Movement Party, and was presidential candidate in the 2012 elections against the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi. The party is a major element of the Egyptian Front electoral coalition, which is expected to gain a majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections, which are due to take place before the end of March 2015.
Shafiq travelled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after losing the presidential race against Morsi, and a number of corruption lawsuits were filed against him.
Mustafa Bakri, journalist and Egyptian Front coalition spokesman, told state media the coalition presented a list of possible candidates to another alliance led by Mubarak-era minister Kamal El-Ganzouri.
El-Ganzouri is also currently serving as an economic consultant to the Egyptian presidency.
The list, state media reported, included well-known public figures in private business, owners of private universities, party heads, former Mubarak-era opposition figures, and media personnel.
The coalition and El-Ganzouri formally agreed to begin mutual cooperation ahead of the upcoming elections.
On Monday, the Electoral Districts Committee confirmed that the law regulating Egypt’s upcoming parliamentary elections, has been prepared for cabinet approval this week, ready for elections in early 2015. The number of districts has been set at 231, with Cairo governorate having the most districts and Aswan the fewest.
The Egyptian Front is one of several electoral coalitions gearing up for the elections that includes figures known to have supported Mubarak, the NDP, and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
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.
