“We will reject the use of religious slogans in upcoming parliamentary elections,” Safwat al-Sherif, secretary-general of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), said at a meeting of the party’s High Policies Council on Tuesday.
Al-Sherif stressed that the use of religiously-themed campaign slogans represented “a violation of Article V of the constitution.”
“As for the NDP, we will not field any candidates whose reputations are in question,” al-Sherif added, asserting that the ruling party would abide by all regulations laid down by Egypt's High Elections Commission.
He also said that the party considered international supervision of elections as "interference in Egypt’s internal affairs."
“All other political parties agree on this,” said al-Sherif. “Local civil society organizations are more than capable of carrying out this task.”
Gamal Mubarak, NDP policies secretary and son of President Hosni Mubarak, for his part, said the ruling party’s electoral program would focus on fighting corruption, poverty and inflation; creating job opportunities; improving public education and health care; and developing national infrastructure.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
