Egypt's National Accord Conference has recommended the cancellation of a historic quota reserving 50 percent of parliament seats for peasants and workers. The parliamentary allocation is part of the draft law on People's Assembly's elections currently open for public debate. The conference, launched on 21 May, aims to achieve a national consensus on the outlines of Egypt's new constitution, and is expected, within two months, to submit recommendations to a parliamentary panel that will draft the constitution. During a meeting on Thursday , the conference's commission on the electoral system recommended that the upcoming president be deprived of the right to appoint members to the People's Assembly, Egypt's lower house of Parliament. Participants also called for establishing an independent judicial committee to supervise presidential, parliamentary, and municipal elections, as well as supervising the polling process and declaring results. On Sunday, Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces issued a draft bill regulating parliamentary elections. The bill maintains the 50 percent quota for peasants and workers. Some experts had commended the quota's abrogation, arguing that it weakened the assembly's role.
