1st session of National Dialogue starts with debate on electoral system, anti-discrimination file

CAIRO – 14 May 2023: The first session of the National Dialogue specialized committee kicked off on Sunday with a debate on holding the elections with the closed absolute list system or with the proportional list system.

In the closed list, voters vote for only political parties as a whole. Meanwhile, in the proportional list system, each political party obtains a share of the constituency seats agree with its share of the vote.

The first session of the National Dialogue kicked off on Sunday at the Cairo Convention Center in Nasr City, Cairo, and run by the Political Rights Practices Committee of the National Dialogue. The committee also discussed discrimination issues and the challenges of cooperative work.

A coalition of 42 political parties announced its support for holding the elections with a proportional list system, said lawmaker and deputy of the Industry Committee at the Senate Tayseer Matar on Sunday.

He added that conducting holding the elections with a closed list system suits the Egyptian reality, Youm7 reported.

For his part, former assistant prime minister and professor of constitutional law Abdullah Al-Maghazi voiced his support for the proportional list system, noting that it is possible to combine holding parliamentary elections, whether in the proportional, closed or individual system, Al Shorouk newspaper reported.

In addition to the electoral system, the session discussed the file of combating discrimination, shedding light on light on citizens' rights to treatment and housing, in addition to not being subjected to physical or psychological abuse.

Participants called for a review of all laws and legislations related to combating discrimination, including the personal status law and labor laws.

They also called for the adoption of a national program to follow up on all forms of discrimination and raise awareness, work on gender equality, combat gender-based violence, eliminate the centralization of decision-making, and raise awareness in schools of this.

General Coordinator of the National Dialogue Diaa Rashwan said that the dialogue will submit all fully-discussed files to the President immediately, revealing that the Senate election law will be discussed next Sunday, on May 21.

“The national dialogue is an important opportunity to develop partisan life, starting with participation,” said Tarek Al Kholi, the committee member and member of the Presidential Pardon Committee.

It is worth mentioning that the sessions of the National Dialogue committees will convene three times a week.

The National Dialogue was launched by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during the family iftar event in April 2022.

President Sisi said the dialogue will open its doors for “all political forces without an exclusion” except for the parties that have shown violent behavior or sponsored terrorist attacks,” pledging to attend the final sessions of the dialogue.

The dialogue aims to reach a common ground with regard to priority issues facing the Egyptian society on the political, economic, and social tracks.