The law on constituent districts will be announced next week, said Major General Mamdouh Shahin, assistant secretary of defense and member of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Shahin stressed that parliamentary elections would be held on time, adding that the door for nominations would open in late September, followed by elections after no less than 30 days. A law on constituent districts will be announced next week, possibly Monday, Shahin told Al-Masry Al-Youm, stressing that the law takes into account all objective criteria and rules. All previous issues regarding constituent district distribution have been resolved, he added, expressing hope that the new law will be approved by all citizens and political groups. Elections for the People's Assembly and Shura Council are set to be held in three stages, with 15 days between each stage. In July, the SCAF issued a new parliamentary election law setting the number of People's Assembly seats at 504. The now-dissolved parliament that was elected in November 2010 had 518 seats, including 64 reserved for women. According to the new law, the electoral system will adopt mixed methods, in which half of the parliament's members will be elected under a candidate-based system, while the other half will be chosen through closed lists - meaning that they will only be voting for parties, not individual candidates. The country will be divided into 126 constituencies with a candidate-based system and 58 constituencies with a closed list system. Translated from the Arabic Edition
