The ongoing National Accord Conference has recommended that the Central Auditing Organization (CAO) keep tabs on the finanical dealings of all presidential campaigns in Egypt ahead of presidential elections scheduled for the end of 2011.
During a meeting on Sunday, the conference's committee on electoral systems, chaired by researcher Amr Hashim Rabea, stressed the importance of outlawing foreign funding for presidential elections, suggesting that certain foreign nations might support certain candidates.
Attendees said that an upper spending limit of LE15 million should be set for presidential campaign budgets, and LE5 million for run-offs.
They also urged tasking the CAO with overseeing electoral spending. While some participants said campaign funding should be exclusively the remit of the state, others said political parties should have the sole right to fund their nominees.
They said that campaign funding by individuals and institutions should not be allowed, including offers of any donations of a non-financial nature.
The conference, which began on 21 May, has issued recommendations for Egypt's political future and the current transitional period. Participants include political activists, legal scholars and government officials.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
