CAIRO: The issue of whether Egyptians living abroad will be able to vote in upcoming parliamentary elections or not will be decided on Tuesday, according to Hany Mahmoud, head of Egypt's electoral coordination committee. Mahmoud said the legislative committee of elections will meet on Tuesday to discuss the right of Egyptians abroad to vote in parliamentary elections. Egypt's minister of justice and the head of the Supreme Committee of Elections will attend the meeting. Parliamentary elections are slated to begin November 28 with the first round of elections for the People's Assembly, the lower house of Egypt's bicameral parliament. Various suggestions will be discussed during the meeting, said Mahmoud. One question to be answered deals with whether Egyptians living abroad will vote according to the electoral districts they used to live in or whether special electoral districts will be created for them. Mahmoud said that the easiest procedures will be decided during the upcoming meeting. The issue of the non-existence of a database about the Egyptian census abroad will on the top of the meeting's priorities, he added. Mahmoud said that the Supreme Committee of Elections has not yet issued clear instructions regarding punishing those who use religious slogans during elections, which is prohibited under Egypt's electoral law. The Muslim Brotherhood, considered Egypt's most coordinated opposition group, has stated the group will not give up its slogan, “Islam is the solution.”
