Egypt’s parliamentary elections are to be held by the end of this year, the government announced on Sunday. A government statement said President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi had
discussed plans to hold parliamentary elections by the end of the year
with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo y
Marfil on Sunday. The elections are the final step in a political road map drawn up in
the wake of the ousting of former president Mohamed Mursi last year. The
first two steps—the adoption of a new constitution and the election of a
new president—have already been completed.
A spokesman for Sisi’s office, Ihab Badawi, said: “The Egyptian
president explained to the Spanish side our vision for the developments
in the internal situation in Egypt, and the preparations to complete the
last part of the road map represented by the parliamentary elections
before the end of this year.”
Badawi added: “The president emphasized Cairo’s hope for the
continuation of the Spanish position in understanding developments in
Egypt, as well as the continuation of Madrid’s support for Egypt’s
efforts to establish a democratic political system and fight terrorism,
especially in light of Spanish expertise in dealing with terrorism.”Meanwhile, Egyptian politicians are continuing their efforts to form
alliances between the country’s numerous fractious political parties, as
the elections draw closer.
Despite a number of political parties already announcing electoral
alliances, and the election lists being announced only after the Eid
Al-Fitr holiday on Wednesday, the final shape of the new alliances has
yet to emerge, observers of Egypt’s political scene have said. A number of political sources, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat
on condition of anonymity, blamed the delay on infighting over
leadership roles within possible alliances. One source also said the
delay was due to “the presence of personalities affiliated to the
defunct National [Democratic] Party [of former president Hosni Mubarak],
in addition to some alliances controlled by businessmen, which
increases parties’ concerns.”
Another source warned of growing fears that the number of alliances
being formed risked splitting the vote, and “may open the door for the
Islamist movements to infiltrate parliament again.”
Egypt’s last parliament was dissolved by judicial decree in 2012, on
the grounds that some legislators affiliated with Islamist parties had
won seats reserved for independents. In a press statement on Sunday, Dr. Ahmed Darraj, a leading figure in
the 25–30 Alliance, put the delay in the formation of political
alliances down to the “election situation remaining unclear,” and the
difficulty of coordinating the efforts of a large number of different
parties within each coalition. Darraj added that the short lifespan of an election alliance was
another reason for the delays, because the alliances were not expected
to last beyond the elections. Dr. Mustafa El-Nahas, secretary-general of the Egyptian National
Movement, warned political parties against disagreement over alliances
and stressed the importance of coordination to prevent hardline
movements winning power.
He said in a statement issued on Sunday that he hoped Egypt’s mainstream parties would unite in one or two alliances at most.The new constitution stipulates that parliamentary elections should
be held within a period of no longer than six months from the date of
its adoption, which occurred in January. However, a number of delays
have occurred, leading the government to push the date of the elections
back. The final dates of the election are expected to be announced soon. The next parliament is expected to play a bigger role in governing
Egypt because of constitutional changes adopted at the beginning of
2014, which granted the country’s legislature wider powers.
Source: Aawsat.net
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