The Shura Council approved a draft law yesterday redrawing Egypt's electoral districts. Mofeed Shehab, minister of state for legal affairs and parliamentary councils, said the amendment is intended to accomodate the creation of new governorates, police offices and the allocation of districts for women. Shehab indicated to that three governorates--Cairo, Dakahliya and Sohag--will each have two districts for women, whereas the remaining governorates will have only one. The session witnessed many objections over the status of Nubia (in southern Egypt). Refaat el-Saeed, head of the leftist Tagammu Party, said he received a letter from various mayors in Nubia opposing the merging of their areas with Komombo center. They argue this will deny them the right to be represented in parliament. El-Saeed described this move as a "conspiracy against Nubia." He added that "It's dangerous because it destabilizes their conditions." Farkhanda Hassan, head of Human Resources Committee, agreed with el-Saeed saying, "They could have included Nubia as one of Aswan's districts, but they didn't. I call on President Mubarak to consider this issue when appointing members of parliament." Nagi el-Shehaby, chief of the Geel Party, said the High Council for Elections should set the rules for electoral districts, which the Ministry of Internal Affairs must follow, not the opposite. Refaat el-Qomsan, minister of internal affairs' first assistant and head of General Department for Elections, said that the High Council for Elections is in charge of setting the rules, but hadn't issued any rules so far. "We'll abide by them when they are issued," el-Qomsan said. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
