Ahead of the first parliamentary elections following the 25 January Revolution, the ruling military council decided to amend some controversial articles regulating the exercise of political rights. Gamal Essam El-Din reports The door to register for the elections of the People's Assembly -- Egypt's lower-house of parliament -- opened yesterday. A record number of candidates are expected to register irrespective of the fact that some political forces called for a boycott in protest at the bloody clashes between Coptic protesters on one side and the army and security forces on the other on 9 October, leaving 24 dead and more than 300 injured. Ahead of the registration process, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) decided to amend Article 5 of the two laws regulating the performance of the two houses of parliament, the People's Assembly and Shura Council, and eight articles of the 1956 law on the exercise of political rights. Article 5, which was issued on 25 September and stipulated that political parties would be prevented from contesting one-third of the seats allocated for individual candidates, was revoked. The elimination of this controversial article was welcomed by opposition parties and other political forces which threatened a boycott of the elections. Leaders of political parties complained that as large numbers of their members want to run in elections and as that it was, in their view, almost impossible to field all of these members via the party-list system, they should be allowed to run as independents via the individual candidacy system. Political parties also asked that once their candidates win as independents, they should be allowed to rejoin the party's ranks in parliament. The 8 October elimination of Article 5 of the two laws in the two houses of parliament opens the door for political parties to field candidates both as independents and on party lists. To many, the SCAF's approval to cancel Article 5 represents a big concession to political parties and compels them not to boycott elections. The SCAF, however, refused to provide another concession in the form of a law banning leading members of ousted Hosni Mubarak's defunct ruling National Democratic Party to stand in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Although Minister of Justice Mohamed Abdel-Aziz El-Guindi announced this week that a decree under the title "the Treason Law" would be issued to ban NDP stalwarts from standing in elections or occupying public posts for at least five years, SCAF chairman Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said "the issuing of the treason law is still under study." As a result, old NDP members were allowed to register in elections after the door was opened yesterday. Many independent analysts oppose the treason law for democratic and political reasons. Ahmed Kamal Abul-Magd, a constitutional law expert, said the law "goes against the constitution which stipulates that citizens cannot be prevented from exercising their political rights -- including the right of standing in elections -- without a judicial order." Abul-Magd said rejections to impose the law will help a balanced representation of all forces in the upcoming parliament. "We do not want certain political forces with a certain ideology to dominate the two houses of parliament and it is important not to isolate any force," argued Abul-Magd. SCAF's rejection of imposing the treason law before opening the registration law was not a reason good enough for political parties to boycott the elections. Hussein Ibrahim, an old-time MP of the Muslim Brotherhood, said, "We are against boycotting but it is important to stop corrupt members from contesting elections." Instead, however, Ibrahim said "there should be blacklists of NDP members who won in the 2010 elections which were marked by blatant fraud and forgery." The so-called 25 January Revolution's shadow government published a blacklist of around 500 NDP remnants, urging citizens not to vote for any of them. The three-stage People's Assembly elections which start on 28 November will be the first since the revolution toppled Mubarak on 11 February. The first stage will include elections in nine governorates, on top of which are Cairo and Alexandria. The third stage is set to end on 10 January. The new parliament will adjourn on 17 March 2012. Polls for the Shura Council, or upper chamber, are set to begin on 29 January and end on 11 March. The SCAF also decided to amend eight articles of the 1956 law regulating the exercise of political rights. This includes articles 40, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, and 50, most of which aim to set tough jail sentences for candidates who threaten or bribe voters to cast ballots for them, as well as candidates using religious slogans in their campaigns. As for Article 40, it states that those who abstain from voting despite being registered on the database of voters will be fined up to LE500. Other articles state that the following violations will result in prison sentences: voting more than once, voting on behalf of others and voting without having the right to do so. Offenders will face prison sentences ranging from one to five years. Article 50 states that stealing or damaging ballot boxes, or ruining their content, will result in jail time. It states that electoral campaigns based on religious slogans or sex or ethnic discrimination are banned, and whoever embarks on them will face at least three months jail time and a LE6,000 to LE12,000 fine. Articles 43, 45, 46, 47, and 48 also impose prison sentences on those who direct verbal insults against heads or members of electoral committees while doing their job; damaging facilities such as buildings and media equipment; hiding or damaging voter lists; and registering names of voters through illegal means. These crimes will result in prison sentences ranging from one to five years and fines ranging from LE10,000 to LE100,000. The amendments also impose penalties on crimes using force to prevent anyone from voting or forcing anyone to vote for a certain candidate; spreading rumours about the elections or candidates in a bid to manipulate results; and the forging of voting cards or distributing them without official consent. Furthermore, any of the candidates trying to bribe voters or indulge in corruption practices could face imprisonment and could be banned from running for public office for five years. The tough sentences were generally welcomed by political forces in spite of the fact that some human rights activists warned that the penalties could be a double-edged sword because they say it is unclear how such penalties can be imposed on certain violations such as spreading rumours. Field Marshal Tantawi also announced that the SCAF would cover the costs of publicity for newly established youth-led political parties, and would help provide the parties with logistical support. Leaders of Islamist parties rejected imposing any penalties on using religious slogans during election campaigns. Mohamed El-Beltagui, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood's party, Freedom and Justice, said, "Political parties joining the Democratic Alliance will agree on using a certain slogan. The issue of using the Muslim Brotherhood's slogan 'Islam is the Solution' was not on the agenda of any discussions and when the time to campaign comes, it will be decided by all members of the alliance." The Brotherhood was banned under Mubarak but ran candidates as independents who could be identified on posters by the Islamist group's well- known slogan. Salafist and Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya (the Islamic Group) parties said they insist on raising religious slogans. Liberal forces oppose raising religious slogans during election campaigns. "This reflects the ideology of Islamist parties which is fond of mixing politics with religion," said Nabil Zaki, spokesman of the leftist Tagammu Party.
