Egypt has expressed its “full support” for actions by the Saudi Arabian-led coalition against armed Houthi rebels in Yemen, saying the Iran-backed movement’s practices further inflame the situation in Yemen. According to an official statement on Sunday, Egypt’s foreign ministry affirmed that it supports Saudi Arabia in its efforts to push for a political solution in Yemen and enforce the ceasefire between the legitimate government forces and the Houthi movement, formally known as Ansar Allah. The statement also stressed Egypt’s condemnation of Ansar Allah’s targeting of civilian installations in Yemen’s Ma’rib with ballistic missiles, which injured several civilians. “The foreign ministry stresses the importance of reaching a comprehensive ceasefire in Yemen to make it possible to agree on humanitarian and economic steps that guarantee the alleviation of the growing humanitarian crisis nationwide due to a stalled political solution,” it said. The statement came hours after the Saudi-led coalition’s fighter jets struck on Sunday barracks and military sites of the Houthi movement in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, according to Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV. Local sources told Al Arabiya that the coalition also destroyed four drones at Al-Delmi air base, north of Sanaa. The strikes by the coalition came a few days after the Houthi movement claimed it attacked “an important target” in Riyadh on Thursday using a ballistic missile and drones.

Preparations for Egypt s parliamentary elections will shift into high gear this week, with hopeful candidates beginning on Saturday to take the required medical tests and check-ups in line with the National Elections Authority’s (NEA) rules. A statement by the NEA said that hopeful candidates can use the Ministry of Health s website to report their personal data, select the hospital or the lab they favour, and make an appointment for the medical check-up. Article 10 of the House of Representatives Law (law 140/2020) stipulates that a hopeful seeking to run in parliamentary elections should submit a number of papers, including a medical check-up document showing that he/she tests negative for drugs. A number of current MPs including parliamentary spokesperson Salah Hassaballah, leftist MP Abdel-Hamid Kamal, and deputy speaker Soliman Wahdan underwent the necessary medical check-ups on Saturday. The medical check-ups come a few days ahead of the start of candidacy registration on 17 September, and runs until 26 September. The NEA held a surprise meeting on 10 September, announcing that registration will open on 17 September and that the two-stage election will kick off on 21 October and wrap up on 14 December. The first stage will cover 14 governorates between 21 October and 30 November. These include Giza, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, New Valley, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, the Red Sea, Alexandria, Beheira, and Marsa Matruh. The second stage will cover 13 governorates between 4 November and 14 December. These comprise Cairo, Qalioubiya, Daqahliyya, Menoufiya, Gharbiya, Kafr El-Sheikh, Sharqiya, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailiya, Suez, North Sinai, and South Sinai. The NEA s press conference on 10 September came as a surprise to MPs and political parties. Many said they thought the NEA would announce the timetable for the House poll once the Senate election finishes on 16 September and that candidate registration would likely open in October. The NEA s sudden announcement of the registration and voting dates last Friday led political parties to step up coordination to prepare their lists of candidates. The pro-government Mostaqbal Watan (Future of the Homeland) party said on Sunday that it is currently leading a coalition that will contest the 284 seats reserved to party lists. The coalition includes 12 political parties: Mostaqbal Watan, Al-Wafd, the Guardians of the Nation, Modern Egypt, the Egyptian Socialist Democratic Party, the People s Republican, the Reform and Development, Tagammu, the Generation s Will, the Egyptian Freedom, the Justice, and the Congress. The above coalition is almost similar to the one which was formed last August by Mostaqbal Watan to run for the Senate s 100 party list seats. The coalition – officially entitled "the National Unified List" – won the party list seats unopposed. The Mostaqbal Watan party said it will hold a press conference Sunday to announce preparations for the elections and potential candidates for the individual and party list seats. A total of 568 seats will be up for grabs in Egypt s upcoming parliamentary elections, while another 28 seats (5 per cent) will be named by the president, bringing the House s seats to a total of 596. The 568 seats are split equally between individual and party list deputies – meaning there will be 284 candidates from each category. The House election law stipulates that 25 percent of the total seats must be reserved for women.

Polling stations closed in 14 governorates nationwide on Wednesday at 9 pm, wrapping up the two-day run-offs for Egypt s Senate elections were held Tuesday and Wednesday amid tight security and strict precautionary measures against the coronavirus pandemic. The National Election Authority (NEA) announced vote-counting started at sub-committees immediately following the closure of polling stations. The second day of run-offs witnessed a light to moderate turnout, according to live footage by satellite TV channels throughout the day. The run-offs saw 52 candidates competing for 26 seats. Egyptian expats cast their ballots abroad on Sunday and Monday. According to the NEA, among the 52 candidates 24 are affiliated with Mostaqbal Watan (Future of Homeland) Party, four with the Islamist Nour Party, three with the Guardians of the Nation Party, two with the People s Republican Party, one with the Congress Party, one with the National Movement Party, and one with the Ittihad (Union) Party. The contested seats are in 14 governorates: Qalioubiya, Menoufiya, Kafr El-Sheikh, Giza, Beni Suef, Assiut, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia and Marsa Matrouh. Some 174 senators representing different constituencies countrywide were officially named last month after securing votes during the first round of elections. There are 63 million eligible voters out of the country 100 million plus population. Only 8.95 million (14.23 percent) cast their ballots during the first round in August. In the first round, the majority of seats were grabbed by the pro-government coalition "National Unified List", which is led by the Mostaqbal Watan Party (Future of Homeland), claiming, along with its allies, the majority in the newly reconstituted 300-seat upper house of parliament. The pro-government Mostaqbal Watan Party won 118 (around 60 per cent) out of the 200 contested seats. Mostaqbal Watan won 68 individual seats and 50 party list seats in the first round, according to the NEA. The Senate, which was created in accordance with constitutional amendments approved last year, will act as an advisory chamber to the House of Representatives. It will sit in place of the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament that was dissolved in 2014. Two-thirds of the members are elected via the individual candidacy and the closed party list systems, and the rest will be appointed by the president. The first session of the new body, when senators will be sworn in, is set to be held in October. The first five-year term of the Senate will end in 2025.