On 31 October Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb promised that the seven-member technical committee formed three weeks ago and mandated to finalise a draft electoral districts law would finish its work on 10 November. Egypt's official news agency MENA quoted Mehleb saying the completion of the draft law would allow the Higher Election Committee (HEC) to set a date for the polls. “The committee has gone a long way towards finalising the electoral districts law while I have been instructed by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi to ensure parliamentary polls are held at the earliest possible date,” said Mehleb. In a television interview with journalist Mustafa Bakri — also on 31 October —Mehleb said Al-Sisi had rejected several calls to delay the polls. “Some people cited security and technical reasons for the delay but President Al-Sisi rejected such arguments,” he said. Drafting the electoral districts law had taken so much time, the prime minister said, because “we want to make sure the law complies fully with the new constitution and there will be no legal challenges against the results of the parliamentary poll”. Mehleb anticipates the first stage of preparations for parliamentary polls to begin early next year. “I would like to see the process well advanced before the economic conference scheduled next February meets. We want to send a message to the outside world — ahead of the conference — that Egypt is moving towards completing the political roadmap adopted in July 2013.” Before leaving for Geneva on Sunday to attend the UN Human Rights Council's periodic review of Egypt's human rights record Minister of Transitional Justice and House of Representatives Affairs Ibrahim Al-Heneidi told parliamentary reporters that the draft of the electoral districts law was close to completion. “The technical is now focussed on making sure all aspects of the legislation comply with the new constitution which requires that a balance be struck between the area and population of constituencies,” said Heneidi. The technical committee, he added, was paying particular attention to border governorates, especially North Sinai where a three-month state of emergency and a daily 10-hour curfew were imposed last week. Once the draft is finalised it will be reviewed by political forces, a process that will take up to three weeks, meaning the HEC is unlikely to be in a position to kick start preparations for the vote before early December. The poll will probably be held in three stages, each including nine governorates. Each stage could take two weeks to complete, more if security threats constitute a problem. Anwar Al-Sadat, chairman of the Reform and Development Party, told Al-Ahram Weekly that if Mehleb and Heneidi keep their word then a new parliament could convene by March. “But if the government and HEC continue moving at their current snail pace convening a new parliament could be delayed until June.” Egypt's last parliamentary poll took from 12 October, 2011 to 22 January, 2012. Political forces, says Sadat, are eagerly awaiting the draft district law. “Only when there is a clear picture of constituency boundaries will parties be able to develop their campaign strategies,” he says. The HEC met on Monday. Sources attending the session, which was chaired by Ayman Abbas, head of the Cairo Appeal Court, report that the meeting finalised guidelines that will govern the work of the judicial mini-committees formed a week ago to represent the HEC in each of Egypt's 27governorates. Judges in charge of mini-committees will take possession of ballot boxes from the headquarters of the Court of First Instance — to which each committee is affiliated — one day in advance of the poll. “On voting day each judge will take charge of transporting ballot boxes and papers from the court to the polling station before 8am, and will be responsible for ensuring necessary preparations at the voting stations have been completed,” said the HEC source. It will be up to the heads of the mini-committees to ensure the police or military presence is sufficient to safeguard the polling station, that enough personnel are available to allow the smooth running of the vote, that voter lists are ready and that the number of ballot papers equals the number of registered voters. Judges in charge of mini-committees will instruct security forces to ensure there is no campaigning outside polling stations and voters will be screened for anything that might constitute a weapon before entering stations. Female officers will be available to women wearing the niqab (full-face cover) and check their identity cards. “Voters will be required to show their identity card or passport. They will put their thumb in indelible ink when they are voting to guarantee no one is able to duplicate their vote,” said the source. Handicapped citizens, including blind voters, will be able to ask the chairman of the mini-committee to vote for them or else bring somebody to accompany them and fill in their ballot paper. Monday's HEC meeting was the second in two weeks. In a statement last week the HEC said it had completed its review of voter lists and it was now up to citizens to log-on to the HEC website to check their names and voting centres were listed correctly.
