Elections countdown: 37 days

The prominent Egypt Awakening coalition is withdrawing from parliamentary elections in retaliation against election officials’ hardline stance on medical examinations, the group declared Friday.

Egypt Awakening was one of the few electoral alliances to rival the powerhouse For the Love of Egypt bloc, popularly known as “the state list,” as it mostly includes Mubarak-era figures and staunch supporters of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

On Monday the Administrative Court ruled that aspiring parliamentarians must conduct new medical examinations as part of their candidacy applications, even if they already did so in February, before the elections were postponed. The court gave candidates until September 15 to hand in their examination results.

Egypt Awakening argued that it is “financially draining” to redo the exams, and the ruling thus “threatens two constitutional principles: equality and equal opportunities,” in a statement published on the Reuters-affiliated Aswat Masriya news site. The government should have offered free medical examinations for candidates, the group added.

The High Elections Commission (HEC) had not initially obliged aspiring candidates to redo the exams, spokesperson Amr Marwan told the privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm on Friday. However, the commission cannot challenge the court’s ruling — only the State Litigation Authority can, Marwan said, but the commission cannot pressure the authority to do so.

Egypt Awakening also criticized the fact that the HEC cannot issue decisions that are immune from judicial appeal, as was the case with the committee overseeing the presidential elections.

The electoral list had positioned itself as a guardian of the principles of both the January 25 and June 30 “revolutions.” It was established by former member of the Constituent Assembly and Mubarak-era opposition figure Abdel Gelil Mostafa, and is also headed up by renowned movie director Khaled Youssef. The bloc predominantly includes the parties that founded the Democratic Alliance, an umbrella coalition of post-revolutionary groups including the Dostour Party, the Popular Current Party, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, Egypt of Freedom, the Adl Party and the Nasserist Karama Party.

The Egyptian Social Democratic Party also joined the electoral list, in addition to the 25/30 Alliance and public figures like George Ishaq and political scientist Ammar Ali Hassan.

Ahmed Ezz keeps making waves

The Sadat constituency in Monufiya is abuzz with news that Ahmed Ezz successfully submitted his candidacy application on Thursday.

The privately owned newspaper Youm7 reported that Ezz is close to several wealthy, high-profile families in his constituency, while claiming that lower-income voters also admire the services he offers.

At least two other aspiring candidates, businessman Sherif Afify and Nour Party candidate Gehad Abdel Zaher, said they would still run for the Sadat seat if Ezz’s application was approved, but other unnamed parliamentary hopefuls told Youm7 they would step down given his popularity.