CAIRO: Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) announced Wednesday that parliamentary elections will be held as scheduled this November. The proposed voting system of 50 percent individual candidacy and 50 percent proportional representation will also be implemented as previously reported. The Assistant Defense Minister Mamdouh Shahin made the announcement on Wednesday, calling upon candidates to begin their campaigns at the end of September. 47 political parties and movements met in Cairo last week to discuss election procedures, seeking an agreed-upon framework. Activists and politicians in Egypt have called for a 100 percent implementation of the proportional representation system, based on party or coalition lists. They have cited this system as more conducive to transparent and fair elections. Among advocates of the 100 percent proportional representation system is likely presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei. On Tuesday, ElBaradei stated on his official Twitter account that the implementation of a 100 percent proportional party list system is the best way to guarantee the representation of all Egyptian people after decades of democratic absence. The Military Council also confirmed that the People's Assembly elections would happen separately from the Shura Council elections, as planned. “The People's Assembly elections will be held at the end of November over three stages of two weeks each, followed by the Shura Council elections on the same basis,” Assistant Defense Minister Shahin told reporters. The SCAF also confirmed on Wednesday that Egypt's emergency law would continue until June 2012. The law was previously promised to expire before elections start in November. Elections for the People's Council are set for November 21. It will take place in three sessions of two weeks each. The Shura Council election is slated to follow on January 22. BM
