Parliament majority supports draft law of electoral system

CAIRO – 3 May 2017: The coalition of the parliamentarian majority and other members have expressed, on Wednesday, support for a draft law on the electoral system for local administrations and town councils.

The law entails that 25 percent of positions in the local administration of a governorate are to be selected via plurality voting and 75 percent via a closed electoral list. The list will contain constitutional quotas for youth, women, Christians and workers.

Members of parliament also agreed to allow further authorities for governors in the new law to curb red tape, as governors used to have to refer most of their decisions to their respective ministers.

However, Osama Heikal, head of the Culture and Media Committee, said the draft law would require long discussions at general sessions, according to Youm7 sources.

He clarified that the draft law has been successfully passed in the second legislative session of the parliament and he expects it to pass in the third session beginning around next October. Egypt’s parliament has five legislative sessions with each lasting a minimum of nine months.