The national dialogue sponsored by President Mohamed Morsy and coordinated by outgoing Vice President Mahmoud Mekki resumed its sixth round Sunday evening and continued Monday morning.
Sunday’s round was mainly dedicated to discussing a new law for the coming parliamentary elections, due to be held soon now that the constitution has passed, reported state-owned Al-Ahram. The participants of the dialogue discussed draft laws they proposed, as well as drafts proposed by parties not in attendance.
If a proposed law is approved by all the attending members, the draft would be sent to the cabinet, which would in turn submit it to the Shura Council for discussion. The Shura Council temporarily holds legislative authority until a new lower house of parliament is elected.
Heba Yassin, spokesperson of the Popular Current, said that the National Salvation Front (NSF) is still boycotting the national dialogue; the opposition group is demanding a clear agenda, a timeline, a neutral moderator and publicity of the talks as prerequisites for their participation. The Popular Current is one of the members of the NSF.
“We have sent proposals regarding the parliamentary elections law to the president’s advisor Pakinam Al-Sharkawy,” Yassin said. “Whether our proposals will be taken into consideration remains unknown.”
The National Dialogue is attended by leaders of parties including the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Al-Nour Party and the Building and Development party. It also includes Mekki, Al-Sharkawy, the Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb alongside a number of other prominent political figures.
FJP officials have rejected NSF leader Amr Moussa’s initiative for ending the current political impasse, calling it unrealistic and inapplicable.
Moussa had presented a five-point plan based on a political truce between the president and the opposition, and the formation of an emergency government that includes representatives from all parties with Morsy himself as prime minister for a year.
Additional reporting by Ahmed Aboul Enein
