CAIRO - Amid the rejection of most political parties, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued five electoral laws, setting November 28 as the date for the parliamentary polls the first since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February to start, opening the door for hopefuls to submit their candidacy papers on October 12. "The SCAF has set November 28 as the start of the first stage of the People's Assembly's elections, which will be held over three rounds, the last of which will end on January 10," the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) quoted a military official as saying. He added that the People's Assembly's elections, in which two-thirds of MPs will be elected according to the proportional representation system and the rest via the individual system, will end on January 10 as the house is due to convene for the first time on March 17. Elections for the Shura Council (the Upper House of Egypt's bicameral Parliament), meanwhile, will start on January 29 and end on March 11, before the house holds its maiden session on March 24. The new laws stipulate that only independents can run for the individual seats; they can never join parties in case they win a seat in either of the two houses. "The membership of an MP will be rescinded if he joins a party after getting in as an independent candidate," added the military official. According to the five laws regulating the electoral process, each list contending the polls should include at least one woman candidate. Seats for the People's Assembly have been slightly lowered to 498 from 504, while those for the Shura Council have been drastically reduced to 270. The laws were issued as most political parties rejected them, calling for a purely proportional representation system and the activation of a law that would ban politicians from Mubarak's dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP) from running. "We cannot understand why the SCAF has adopted a law rejected by political parties. And why wasn't this formula discussed?" the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party asked in a statement. The statement also criticised the SCAF and the Government of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf for lacking a clear-cut vision for running the transitional period. Other parties, including Al-Wafd, Al-Tagammu and some of the newly founded parties, have rejected the law as the Democratic Alliance, a 34-party bloc spearheaded by the Freedom and Justice and Al-Wafd, are set to give their final opinion today. "Our final opinion on the parliamentary elections and the law regulating them will be announced on Wednesday [today]," said Mahmoud Affifi of the April 6 Youth Movement. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, the most influential opposition movement under Mubarak, previously said it would contest roughly half of the parliamentary seats in the coming elections through its party. The party has warned against any delay in the elections, which 22 political groups and parties urged its delay yesterday in a statement to teh SCAF. Dozens of parties, ranging from hardline Islamists to liberals, have sprung up since Mubarak's resignation on February 11. Following the parliamentary and senate elections, which are expected to end in March, a committee will draft a new constitution to replace Mubarak's and then presidential elections will be held. The committee has up to six months to finish its work, meaning the presidential elections might not be held until the end of 2012 or early 2013. "It is expected that the presidential elections will be postponed to the end of 2012 or the start of 2013," Al-Arabiya TV reported, adding that the date will soon be announced in a decree from the military council. The military had promised that it would not conduct the elections under a state of emergency, which was widened in scope this month after protesters ransacked the Israeli Embassy in Giza and clashed with police. But a military official subsequently told State media that the Emergency Law could stay in place until mid-2012, although the military want to end the state of emergency as soon as possible. Election timeline People's Assembly (Lower House of Parliament) Oct 12 Candidate applications Nov 28 Stage 1 of elections Dec 14 Stage 2 of elections Jan 10, 2012 Stage 3 of elections March 17, 2012 Opening session Shura Council (Upper House) Oct 12 Candidate applications Jan 29, 2012 Elections March 11, 2012 Run-off elections March 24, 2012 Opening session
