Egyptian candidate uses live crocodile in his election campaign

Mahmoud Ads, Gulf Today

Khaled El Helili, an Egyptian candidate, used a real crocodile in his campaign for the second round of the current parliamentary elections.

El Helili used to take the crocodile with him on his tours in his constituency, ignoring all laws that prohibit hunting crocodiles in Egypt.

Several photos of the candidate carrying a medium-sized live crocodile and raising it in an election rally organized for him by his supporters in the Qalioub city of Qalyubia Governorate were circulated on websites.

He is running for in the second round of parliamentary elections with his electoral symbol, the crocodile.

Khaled El Helili pumps up the crowd with his election campaign.

The second stage of voting, to be held on November 7-8, will cover Egypt's 13 other governorates including Cairo.

The first phase of the parliamentary elections closed last week.

Some 63 million voters out of Egypt's more than 100 million people are eligible to elect 568 of the 596 lawmakers in the lower house.

The remaining deputies will be appointed by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

The first phase of voting took place over the weekend in 14 governorates including Alexandria and Aswan.