CAIRO: The Democratic Alliance parties formed a committee Saturday to demand the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) make changes to the recently amended parliament law. The Alliance is demanding the cancellation of articles stipulating that political parties must field a worker and a female candidate in each list and leaving the issue to the discretion and capability of each party. The coalition of 34 parties had initially demanded that the electoral system be entirely through party lists, but has since dropped this demand. "The current conditions don't allow for more modifications,” said Waheed Abdel Maguid, head of the electoral coordination committee of the Alliance. We will push for our demands through the committee and the efforts of the heads of each party, he added. The Alliance, spearheaded by the Islamist Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the liberal Al-Wafd, said last week that they will contest all seats in the People's Assembly and Shoura Council (Upper House of Parliament) in the upcoming legislative elections within a unified list as they aim to form a "national salvation government." The Democratic Alliance previously rejected the parliament law issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) last month and said that it will consider all options of escalation including a boycott to pressure the SCAF to change it. The current law states that 50 percent of the seats will be elected through the individual candidates system and 50 percent through closed party lists, while the draft law proposed by the Democratic Alliance was in favor of the party lists exclusively. Alliance parties criticized the current system and said it would produce an imbalanced parliament in which workers and farmers would form a majority of MPs and will diminish the number of political party candidates. "The upcoming parliament must be a consensual one; the current law will allow money and tribalism to dominate the elections," said an earlier statement. The Democratic Alliance, called for by Al-Wafd and the Muslim Brotherhood's FJP, comprises 34 parties from the left and far right, bringing together proclaimed liberals and Islamists. It also includes the Nasserist, Al-Ghad, Al-Karama, Labor, Al-Geel, Al-Ahrar and the Egyptian Arab Socialist parties, as well as the Salafi Al-Nour, Al-Fadila and Al-Tawheed Al-Araby parties. The alliance formed another committee to receive candidacy applications. "The committee will receive application in two phases: First a list of 100 public figures and main candidates from each party and the second for the rest of the candidates," Abdel Maguid said. The Alliance is set to hold a meeting on Sept. 13 to discuss the 100-candidate preliminary list.
