CAIRO: A total of 4,385 hopeful candidates have submitted applications to run in Egypt’s forthcoming parliamentary ballot so far, the High Elections Committee (HEC) announced Tuesday.
HEC Spokesperson Omar Marwan told Youm7 that 112 hopeful candidates had submitted the candidacy papers Tuesday, adding that only three election lists were submitted by Egyptian parties to run in the elections.
The candidacy registration for Egypt’s long-awaited parliament elections, scheduled to kick off mid-October, began Sept. 1 with preliminary candidates’ list to be announced Sept.13.
A total of 40 hospitals nationwide have been assigned to perform compulsory medical tests on the applicants with a cost estimated at 2,850 EGP ($360.)
Health Minister Spokesperson Hossam Abdel Ghaffar announced that until Tuesday night, a total of 2,238 hopeful candidates underwent the test, Youm7 reported Wednesday.
Egypt’s House of Representatives will comprise of 596 members, with 448 to be elected as independents, 120 through the winner-take-all party lists system, with 28 seats to be appointed by the president, HEC announced in a news conference Sunday.
Egypt has not had a parliament since June 2012, after the Islamist-dominated People’s Assembly was dissolved per a court order about six months after its election.
Several media outlets reported that the first two days of registration were marked by fights and jostling among candidates attempting to select most popular electoral symbols.