The Shura Council approved yesterday a draft law amending the provisions of the People's Law No. 38 of 1972. The amendment would finally allocate 64 seats for women in the Parliament, after a long debate among the members of the Council on the constitutionality of this law, especially in light of the assertion by some lawmakers that the law is discriminatory and rejected by the Egyptian Constitution. Immediately after bill was passed, Safwat al-Sharif, President of the Council said: "This is a historic day on the path of democracy and political reform in Egypt and in giving the right to Egyptian women," stressing the 'thought reform' of the National Party since 2002. In the People's Council and the Legislative Committee at its meeting yesterday under the chairmanship of Dr. Amal Othman, Chairman of the Committee, the bill was approved. It asked for 54 members representing the majority of opposition parties and a number of independents in a motion to Dr. Fathi Sorour, President of the Council, by introducing a law to allocate 'a quota for women' to the Supreme Constitutional Court, prior to approval by the Council to avoid any constitutional flaws. In a related context, the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has revealed that the group decided to run for seats which are to be allocated for women in the People's Council. Al-Masry Al-Youm learned that the group started to prepare for the elections by short listing the names of Muslim Sisters who will be selected as candidates. Dr. Rashad Bayoumi, a member of the Guidance Bureau, assured the "will" of the MB to push the Sisters to stand in the elections to be held to increase women's representation in parliament. He said: "To participate in all elections including the student union is a principle of the MB due to the conviction of the need for active participation in the elections."
Bayoumi denied any disagreement within the group on this subject, saying: "The Guidance Bureau has not discussed the subject of the nomination of Sisters but this is an old topic and we always agree on it."
As for the chances of success of the Sisters in this election, especially after the abolition of full judicial supervision, Bayoumi said: "Let us look at how the system is dealing with elections in general, and with the MB in particular, but we enter the elections because it is our duty."
