Final disqualifications were declared for Mubarak-era figure Ahmed Ezz and controversial belly dancer Sama al-Masry in Egypt’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
The billionaire steel tycoon and former chief of Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party’s policy committee, Ahmed Ezz, was disqualified for allegedly violating financial regulations. The Supreme Administrative Court said that, according to its findings, Ezz lacked a valid financial account to fund his electoral campaign.
Ezz’s account at the National Post Office was reportedly no longer valid, as the Illicit Gains Authority froze it on September 9. Ezz had nominated himself for Sadat City, in the Nile Delta Governorate of Monufiya.
Since the 2011 uprising against the Mubarak regime, Ezz has stood trial in several cases pertaining to financial irregularities.
Sama al-Masry was also officially disqualified for lacking the required “qualities and a good reputation” to run for parliament. The Supreme Administrative Court found her values and ethics, which they gleaned from a number of her online videos and interviews, to be “questionable.”
In an interview with the privately owned Masr al-Arabiya news portal, Masry questioned the decision. “How is it that I have a bad reputation, when I have never been involved in any cases of immorality? If we are talking about my video clips, there has not been any verdict issued against me in this regard,” she said.
Al-Masry’s nomination for Cairo’s densely populated districts of Gamaleya and Manshiyet Nasser had been originally cleared, and she had been allocated the knife as her electoral symbol and candidate number 29, pending an appeal against her.
Speaking on the 42nd anniversary of Egypt’s 1973 war with Israel, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi dispelled rumors that the recently appointed cabinet would resign upon the election of the new parliament. “There is no connection between the next parliament and the government submitting its resignation. A lot of people think so, but it is not true,” he said.
Sisi added, “The government at the time will present a program, and if parliament votes for it, the government will remain in office to implement it. If not, then a new government will be presented.”
The Egyptian Coalition to Monitor Elections, comprised of 128 NGOs and civil society organizations, announced on Wednesday that it is establishing operation rooms in each of Egypt’s 27 governorates, in order to monitor campaign and electoral violations.
The coalition’s spokesperson, Ahmed Abdel Hafeez, told the privately owned Youm7 news portal that he expects some electoral violations pertaining to ballot buying, but doesn’t expect the government itself to engage in systematic vote-rigging.
