Informed sources say the technical legislative committee mandated to draft the new electoral districts law has almost completed its task. “Once the law is finalised by the committee it will be endorsed by cabinet in a plenary meeting and then ratified by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi,” said one government source. The long-awaited law, the last obstacle before parliamentary elections can be held, has taken so much time because the committee was determined to comply with all constitutional provisions. “The new law is required by the constitution to balance both the area and population of constituencies. To achieve these two objectives the legislative committee has been in close contact with the interior and administrative development ministries because they are the ones that have detailed data about population density across Egypt,” said the source. Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb announced on Monday that parliamentary elections would, as planned, be held before the end of the year. Preparations paving the way to the poll include finalising the boundaries of constituencies, selecting judges to supervise the vote, and assessing security conditions in all electoral districts. Parliamentary polls are the third — and final — part of a political roadmap adopted following the removal of Mohamed Morsi. They follow the passing of a new constitution in January and the election of a new president in May. During a visit to New York last week to attend the 69th UN General Assembly Al-Sisi told reporters that Egypt would hold parliamentary elections before the end of this year. The president holds legislative powers until an elected parliament convenes. Medhat Idris, spokesperson of the Higher Electoral Committee (HEC), the seven-member judicial body supervising parliamentary polls, has announced changes to the political rights law (law no.45 of 2014) were finalised last week. The political rights law, alongside the law on electoral districts and on the House of Representatives, govern parliamentary polls. “The regulations are now being revised by the State Council's department of laws and fatwas to ensure they are constitutionally sound,” said Idris. The executive regulations of the law on the exercise of political rights set forth the procedures necessary to ensure parliamentary polls are marked with integrity and transparency. “They include conditions for registration, the election symbols allocated to candidates, requirements media outlets and civil society organisations must meet before they can take part in monitoring the polls, and the timetable and spending limits of campaigning.” The HEC and the Ministry of Justice are coordinating over the compilation of a list of 16,000 judges who will supervise the three stages of the poll. “Judges will supervise polling stations nearest to their homes,” says Idris, meaning the final list remains dependent on the details of the electoral districts law. Ibrahim Al-Heneidy, minister of state for transitional justice and House of Representatives affairs, told parliamentary reporters that the HEC is expected to meet after the Eid Al-Adha holiday, scheduled to begin next Saturday. A source close to the HEC told Al-Ahram Weekly that the HEC expects to be ready to announce the timetable for registration, campaigning and the vote by the second half of October. The House of Representatives law specifies that 75 per cent of seats (420 seats) be reserved for independents, with just 20 per cent (120 seats) allocated to those standing on party lists. The remaining five per cent (27) deputies will be appointed by the president. Political parties complain that the division of seats will allow large numbers of former members of President Hosni Mubarak's defunct ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) with strong tribal, clan and business connections to return to parliament. Parties have scrambled to form election alliances in the hope of gaining a foothold in parliament. Three political alliances have been formed to date: the Egyptian Wafd includes a mix of liberal and leftist forces, the Egyptian Front includes NDP diehards and pro-military nationalists, and a coalition of Islamists belonging to the Strong Egypt Party, led by former presidential candidate Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, and Al-Watan, a salafist Nour offshoot. Al-Wafd chairman Al-Sayed Al-Badawi says his alliance will coordinate with the Civilian Democratic Current, led by Hamdeen Sabahi which includes revolutionary forces that came into being after the uprising against Mubarak in 2011. On Monday the Egyptian Front announced that the Arab Nasserist Party, the Misr Al-Qawmi (the Nationalist Egypt) Party, and the Egyptian Liberation (Tahrir) Party had joined. “This should help dismiss the false impression the Front is only a gathering for NDP diehards,” said its spokesperson Mustafa Bakri. Al-Nour, whose leaders have already started touring governorates, has opted to contest elections without coordinating with other forces. During his New York visit President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi warned that “Muslim Brotherhood officials could infiltrate the coming parliament” but said he was confident “if this happens the Egyptian people will move quickly to expel them from parliament”.
