Parliamentary polls in Egypt likely next year, parties say

Cairo: The Supreme Constitutional Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of several articles of the parliamentary elections law will postpone Egypt’s polls to next year, sources from the country’s two major parties said.

The Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Salafi-oriented Nour Party said on Monday that the court’s ruling will push the elections to next year.

On Saturday, Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) judged several articles within the parliamentary elections law and the political practice law as unconstitutional.

This is the second time since February that the SCC has sent the parliamentary election bill back to the Shura Council.

Sources added that the Shura council would discuss recommendations made by the SCC before amending the laws and sending them back to the Court.

President Mohammed Mursi had said that elections would be held in October but the Court’s decision will now delay them, the sources said.

The FJP has asked its members in the Shura Council to postpone deliberation on the SCC’s remarks until the law on judiciary authority has been debated, sources from the party said.

The sources added that they want to avoid simultaneous discussion of the two controversial laws to avoid sparking more disagreements between FJP members in the Shura Council and politicians from other political parties.

FJP members in the Shura Council are intensifying efforts to finalise talking points regarding the bill on judicial authority, which is currently under review by the Shura Council, sources said.

There is no reason to expedite the discussion of these two laws, sources within the FJP said.

The parliamentary elections law will go back to the Shura Council, where it will be re-examined and where the SCC’s recommendations will be considered, after which the law will be amended and submitted to the SCC once more, said Yasser Hamza, a member of the FJP’s legal committee.

PTI