Shura Council elections, under full supervision of the judiciary
Egypt, Politics, 4/30/2001

The nomination papers of all 1852 candidates who will contest the midterm elections of the Shura Council have been accepted. The candidates represent different trends.

"The Ministry of Interior has no authority to prevent any one from nominating himself," Major General Ahmad Said Sawwan, First Assistant to the Interior Minister, said Saturday.

Nomination papers are accepted by members of the judiciary. Shura Council elections will be held under the full supervision of the judiciary as was the case in elections of the People's Assembly. The Ministry is keen on the democratic practice and welcomes all legitimate trends and affiliations, General Sawwan said.

He was replying to questions tabled by a number of independent members of the People's Assembly.

The MPs had submitted a question saying that three persons were detained when they presented their nomination papers for the Shura Council elections.

General Sawwan said that the three persons had been detained under an order issued by the General Prosecution.

The prosecution ordered that the three persons be held for 15 days pending investigations. They were found in possession of publications and papers which aim at reviving an illegal secret organization (the name was not given).

They are Mohamed Abdellah, Professor of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Zeqaziq University (Lower Egypt), Sayed Abdel Nour, Professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, and Abu Bakr Metkis, Cardiology Professor. They were detained when they presented their nomination papers to the Sharkia (Lower Egypt) Security Directorate.

Previous Stories:
  Shoura elections begin on May 16   (4/28/2001)
  So far, 592 candidates to vie for Shura Council Seats   (4/23/2001)
  Shura Council mid-term elections   (4/21/2001)

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