CAIRO: Giza municipality launched a campaign to remove all campaign banners of parliament elections candidates from polling stations in observance of the electoral silence period that began Friday, Youm7 reported.
The move coincides with the start of the first phase of the parliament election voting that kicked off Sunday at 9 a.m. in 14 governorates.
Spokesperson of the High Elections Committee (HEC) Omar Marwan said in a news conference Friday that the committee “will take strict measures including the exclusion of candidates violating the rules.”
Around 500 candidates are contesting for 37 seats in 16 constituencies of Giza governorate.
Eligible voters in Giza’s 16 constituencies are estimated at 6.4 million.
Military personnel were seen removing electoral banners of parliament candidates from several polling stations across the country.
“An operation room was established in every district in the governorate to remove all endorsement campaigns banners from the streets and polling stations,” Deputy Giza governor Alaa Harras told state-owned MENA Sunday.
In a news conference earlier this month, Marwan announced that 2,573 independent candidates, including 112 women, will be competing for 226 seats while six party lists will be competing for 60 seats in the first phase.
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 late August.
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.