The cabinet is expected to endorse a new electoral districts law this week, the last step necessary before parliamentary polls can be held. Yet leaders of secular political parties are far from happy with the laws slated to regulate the vote. In meetings on 5 and 8 November the leaders of electoral blocs including 12 political parties urged Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb to amend the current election laws. On 8 November, Mehleb met with leaders of the Egyptian Front Alliance, an electoral coalition comprising politicians associated with the Mubarak regime. The Front's spokesperson Mustafa Bakri said the meeting focused on the upcoming parliamentary elections as well as the battle against terrorism. “Mehleb asked for support from political parties in the war against terrorists while leaders of the Front argued that winning the battle against extremism necessitated moving towards a fully democratic rule,” said Bakri. The Front expressed reservations over current election laws “The Front wants the law regulating the House of Representatives be amended to allocate sufficient seats to party-based candidates to ensure fair representation for all political parties and reinforce a multi-party system,” said Bakri. Mehleb told the meeting that the legislation redrawing electoral districts was expected to be endorsed by the cabinet on 12 November. “If endorsed, it will be referred to the State Council which will complete any necessary revisions within two weeks. It can then be sent to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for ratification,” said Mehleb. The prime minister insisted the president was keen to see a strong parliament. “After two revolutions we want a powerful parliament in place that can steer the country to a fully democratic rule.” He urged political parties to include younger candidates at the top of party lists. Criticism of the election laws was more pronounced in 5 November meeting with the Egyptian Wafd Alliance which includes five secular political parties. Hossam Al-Khouli, assistant secretary-general of the Wafd Party, issued a statement saying leaders of the alliance had made it clear that the two election laws (the law on the House of Representatives, No.46 of 2014, and the law on exercise of political rights, No.45 of 2014) would fail to create a vibrant parliament. “We know the closer elections are the more difficult it is for election laws to be amended. We did, however, tell Mehleb that the existing laws singularly fail to help Egypt's transition to a democratic system in which the president and parliament share power.” Al-Khouli argued the House of Representatives law discriminates against party-based candidates not only by allocating two thirds of seats to independents but by stipulating that a party list must win 50 per cent of votes in any district before gaining a single MP. “These conditions will make it very difficult for secular parties that emerged after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 to join parliament. They clearly favour remnants of the Mubarak regime seeking to return to parliament as independents,” said Al-Khouli. Al-Khouli also criticised the failure of the political rights law to set a credible ceiling on campaign expenditure. “The LE500,000 ceiling that has been set is unrealistic. It's no secret that actual spending by candidates often reaches LE5 million, much of which goes to buying votes,” said Al-Khouli. Mehleb urged those unhappy with the legislation to forward their criticisms and any proposed amendments to the technical committee formed three weeks ago to finalise the electoral districts law. Al-Khouli told the Egyptian Al-Hayat satellite television channel that Mehleb had told Wafd party leaders the long-awaited electoral districts law would be finalised within two weeks and that parliamentary elections are expected to end by March. Egypt had penciled in a major donors' conference for 25 February 2015. The conference has now been delayed until 15 March. Mehleb has said on a number of occasions that the parliamentary poll should precede the conference “to send the world the message that Egypt is moving to a fully democratic rule”. Socialist Popular Alliance Party leader Abdel-Ghaffar Shukr expects coordination among secular opposition parties to intensify in the next few days. Shukr told a television interview that the Civilian Democratic Alliance — an electoral coalition including revolutionary liberal and leftist political parties — will make a last-ditch effort to mobilise other secular political parties to push for changes to the election laws. The Democratic Alliance wants the number of seats reserved for party lists be raised from 120 to 180 and the absolute party list system be scrapped in favour of a proportional representation. Anwar Al-Sadat, leader of the Reform and Development Party, disclosed that in its meeting with Mehleb, the Wafd-led coalition stressed that while they stand behind the government and President Al-Sisi in the war against terrorism they also expect the new constitution to be fully respected and moves to ensure fully democratic rule to be implemented as soon as possible. On 8 November the Higher Electoral Committee (HEC) — the judicial body entrusted with supervising the parliamentary elections — announced measures aimed at paving the way for the polls. HEC spokesperson Medhat Idris said special HEC-affiliated technical committees would be formed in Egypt's 27 governorates to take charge of reviewing candidacy applications. “These committees will determine whether candidates meet registration conditions, particularly in terms of whether the candidate is an independent or a party-based,” said Idris, adding that “the committees will begin their work soon after the registration period opens.”
