The State Council’s administrative court postponed Tuesday the case seeking to present the newly amended elections law before the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) prior to ratifying the law to the 16 June session.
The lawsuit, filed by lawyer Mohamed Abdel Rasoul, called for the law to be presented before the SCC, so it can adjudicate the law’s constitutionality and subsequently avoid further delay to the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The elections were scheduled to take place in March, but the constitutionality of the electoral district law was questioned resulting in the postponement of the elections until the law’s amendment.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has announced Parliamentary elections will be held in the coming period but not during Ramadan, which is to start in mid-June.
The comments were made during the Labour Day celebrations at the Police Academy on Monday morning.
The committee in charge of amending the elections law made further amendments on Monday to the electoral districts law, raising the seats for individual seats to 448.
The committee announced an end to work on the law, as it will be sent to the State Council’s fatwa and legislation department on Wednesday for revision, according to state media.
The committee also announced there will be 203 constituencies for individual seats in the upcoming elections.
The seats for closed-lists system stand at 120, with 27 members to be appointed by Al-Sisi the total count for the upcoming legislation house members will be 595.
Egypt’s constitution, effective since January 2014, states that parliamentary elections should have been held within six months of the constitution’s enforcement.
“Election of the President of the Republic or the House of Representatives shall take place as regulated by Law, provided that the first of either elections shall take place within a period not less than 30 days and not more than 90 days after the date on which this Constitution comes into effect. In all cases, the following electoral procedures shall commence within a period not exceeding six months as of the date on which the Constitution comes into effect,” Article 230 of the constitution reads.
