The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on Monday announced that it would be meeting with several political parties that have been calling for the suspension of the law on parliamentary elections, the draft of which received preliminary approval by the government on Sunday. According to the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA), SCAF Vice President Sami Annan will meet on Tuesday morning with the heads of those parties who comprise the National Democratic Alliance for Egypt. The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Ministry of Defense headquarters. The Alliance includes 18 parties, including the Wafd Party, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, the Wasat Party and the Salafi's Nour Party. MENA reported that the parties had agreed to prepare a paper on the law on parliamentary elections, which would be discussed with Annan. At a conference attended by representatives of the alliance on Monday, Alliance members said they were deeply concerned over the cabinet's decision to adopt the draft law on parliamentary elections. At a meeting attended by representatives of 26 political parties at Ghad Party headquarters on Monday, the Alliance members demanded the suspension of the law as adopted by the cabinet. They also demanded an urgent discussion to take place between the Alliance, the SCAF and the cabinet before the law is issued. According to a statement released by the Alliance, the draft law introduces a mixed system of individual candidacy and party-list proportional representation, even though the political parties and movements had unanimously agreed that it should be based on party-list proportional representation. The SCAF offered the draft law up for public debate last month. Several political parties and movements voiced their reservations against the draft law. However, the cabinet gave preliminary approval of the draft on Sunday. Translated from the Arabic Edition
