Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Transitional Justice Ibrahim Al-Heneidi told reporters on Saturday that he expects the seven-member Supreme Elections Committee (SEC) in charge of supervising Egypt's elections to hold a press conference within a week to announce the timetable for the long-delayed polls. “Now President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi has ratified the last two laws that will regulate the poll, a timetable will be announced after Thursday's opening of the new Suez Canal,” said Al-Heneidi. Parliamentary elections had been scheduled for March but were cancelled when the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) ruled two election laws unconstitutional. The two laws ratified by Al-Sisi on Saturday regulate the exercise of political rights (law 45/2014) and the affairs of the House of Representatives (law 46/2014). The former has been amended to increase campaign spending limits for parliamentary candidates running on party lists so that they are in line with the campaign ceilings of independents, as the SCC had demanded. Now 15 candidate party lists can spend a maximum of LE2.5 million on campaigning, and 45 member lists LE7.5 million. In case of a run-off the figures fall to LE1 million and LE3 million. The House of Representatives law sets the total number of parliamentary seats at 596, divided between 448 independents, 120 candidates elected on party lists and 28 presidential appointees. The amended law also allows Egyptians with dual nationality to stand for parliament. Last month Al-Sisi ratified new legislation on the division of electoral constituencies (law 202/2014) and regulating the SCC (law 48 /1979). Changes to the regulations governing the SCC have freed judges from ruling on petitions against election laws within five days. “While this will help stem the tide of constitutional challenges against election laws and finally open the way for the polls it also means that if any election law is ruled unconstitutional after parliament is elected the House of Representatives will be dissolved automatically,” says Al-Ahram political analyst Amr Hashem Rabie. Egypt's last parliament was dissolved in June 2012, just five months into its term, after the SCC ruled the election law unconstitutional on the grounds of discrimination against independent candidates. Rabie warns there could be a repeat of the 2012 scenario now that the SCC can issue rulings on election laws at any time. Getting rid of the five-day limit on legal challenges was suggested by the SCC itself, says Al-Heneidi. “Members of the SCC's judicial board, headed by former interim president Adli Mansour, complained that the time limit on election law appeals placed too great a burden on them,” said Al-Heneidi. Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat, chairman of the Reform and Development Party, believes “the decision on the SCC law was the only course open to Al-Sisi to allow parliamentary elections to be held quickly”. “Al-Sisi's decision of 28 July was made to clear an obstacle which some had exploited in an attempt to permanently delay elections,” he claimed. Al-Sadat argued that once elected parliament must move quickly to change the SCC law to safeguard itself against threats of dissolution. A majority of political parties say they have no intention of appealing the election laws before the SCC. Al-Wafd Party spokesman Hossam Al-Khouli said on Sunday that there is a consensus among mainstream political parties that the four election laws have been amended in line with the constitution and that there are no obvious grounds to launch a legal challenge. Any petition that is made to the SCC, he added, is likely to come from individuals. Al-Khouli and Al-Sadat agree that the polls would not be delayed again and that all political parties should begin seriously preparing for the polls. The Wafd Party, says Al-Khouli, plans to field more than 300 candidates as independents and will also contest party-based seats as part of the For the Love of Egypt electoral coalition. On Saturday the Supreme Election Committee (SEC) began accepting applications from civil society organisations and media outlets seeking to obtain permits to cover the polls. The application window will remain open until 20 August. According to SEC spokesman Omar Marawan organisations that successfully apply will be able to register between 21 and 25 August and permits will be issued between 26 and 30 August. “The wheels of Egypt's parliamentary elections have at last begun turning,” Marawan told reporters. “Al-Sisi's ratification of the remaining two laws on the elections opens the way for the SEC to set a detailed timeline for the polls.” Also on Saturday the SEC announced three committees would be formed to oversee coverage of the elections. According to an SEC statement the committees will monitor coverage of the election on a daily basis and take disciplinary action against any media outlets that contravened regulations. On Monday Marawan told Al-Ahram newspaper that 16,000 judges will supervise the polls “to ensure integrity and fairness”. The SEC is coordinating with the Ministries of Interior and Defence to ensure that polling stations are secured.
