By Mahmoud El-Sayed
Al-Nour Party candidates continue to withdraw from the electoral race, after the first phase that witnessed the party’s loss to the ‘For the Love of Egypt’ list in West Delta. The party acquired only eight individual seats.
Three candidates from the party announced that they withdrew from elections, two of which were in the El-Wasti and Bandar constituencies in Beni Suef, in which the elections will be repeated in the next days, due to the rulings of the administrative judiciary that annulled the results of the first round.
The third candidate was one of the competitors in the second electoral phase in Mahalla, Gharbeya. Several reasons were behind the withdrawals, according to statements by the party’s leaders, and several sources from within it. The party wishes to focus on particular candidates to ensure their success, while other candidates were not satisfied with the electoral process and the nature of the competition.
Shaaban Abdel-Aleem, Secretary General of the party and its candidate in the Bandar constituency, said he is the only party candidate in the constituency to date, as the other party candidate, Mohamed Etman, announced his withdrawal from the elections. The elections in Bandar will be repeated this week.
Abdel-Aleem added that the Bandar constituency of Beni Suef has three seats in the parliament, and after that withdrawal, the Al-Nour Party is competing over only one seat out of the three.
Abdel-Aleem revealed the withdrawal of party candidate Ali Abu Taleb in the El-Wasti constituency in Beni Suef. The Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) decided to repeat the elections there on 11 and 12 November, due to the administrative judiciary ruling that annulled the results of the first round in the district.
He added that Abu Taleb believes withdrawal is better than continuing in the electoral process, which he described as “play of political money”. He explained that there are a number of Salafi party leaders trying to convince him to continue in the electoral race and not to withdraw in this period.
In the same context, Mahmoud Emara, party candidate in Mahalla, Gharbeya, said he informed the SEC about his permanent withdrawal from the parliamentary elections.
Emara added that his withdrawal is for personal reasons, which he refused to reveal, explaining that his position to this moment is not to resign from the Al-Nour Party, and he will announce his resignation immediately if he does.
