Egypt’s candidate Mohamed Ezzeldin has been reelected to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights after securing the majority of votes by the committee’s members, a statement by the foreign ministry read on Tuesday. Ezzeldin secured 49 out of a total of 54 votes in elections held on 14 September, the statement said. The Egyptian candidate, who had previously served in the UN-body in several sessions, will assume his duties again for the 2021-2024 session. Egypt s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Mohamed Idris said the election of the Egyptian candidate came after an intensified electoral campaign by the foreign ministry, including on the level of Egypt’s missions abroad and UN member state missions in New York. Idris said the result expresses “the international community’s support and appreciation for Egypt’s important contribution in safeguarding economic, social and cultural rights at an international level.” The UN’s Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is the body of 18 independent experts that monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, according to the UN’s website.

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.