The Al-Dostour Party is set to hold its internal elections held on 6 November. The party has been without a president since its former leader Halla Shukrallah completed her term, suddenly withdrawing from the party in mid-August.
Internal elections are supposed to be held on 6 November, according to a schedule announced by the party Saturday.
The party elections are expected to follow similar procedures to those of the parliamentary elections. Candidates will be announced on 17 and 18 October, and then party members can appeal against their candidacy. Final lists of candidates should be out by 23 October.
This comes as Al-Dostour Party has decided not to participate in the parliamentary elections, maintaining its former position when elections were initially announced back in March 2015. Nonetheless, the party does not have a central command at the moment, and speakers in its name could be members of one of four internal electoral groups.
“Nobody is running in the parliamentary elections in the name of the party,” media officer Samah El-Ghazawy told Daily News Egypt Sunday. Had it chosen to participate, the party, which is part of the Democratic Current coalition, would have been more likely to join “Sahwet Misr,” which is now out of the elections as well.
However, last September, disputed press statements came from Al-Dostour Party members. El-Ghazawy, currently the spokesperson for one of the internal electoral groups, named “Together we can,” had told the press that the party maintains its boycotting stance on the elections, out of the belief that controversial political laws obstruct the democratic process.
This came in response to another statement made by the “We will build alternatives”, campaign supporting candidate Tamer Gomaa as party head. The campaign issued a press release Monday, declaring the party’s decision to take part in the elections. The campaign stated that “some political obstacles were removed and others remain, but party members were free to join any electoral lists”.
Last June, Al-Dostour Party announced its internal elections, and then halted the process due to technical issues. Current party spokesman Mohamed Youssef told Daily News Egypt Sunday that the administration adjusted mistakes in the procedures of inviting members to the ballot. Moreover, he noted that all previous four campaigns are now unofficial, as the electoral process should start over and candidates should apply again. He further confirmed that the party is not participating in the parliamentary elections.
