Egypt Court to Rule on Electoral Law Sunday
Egypt's Constitutional Court said it will rule Sunday on whether the electoral law is constitutional, with polls for a new parliament next month likely to be delayed if the decision is negative.
The election, currently set to be held between March 21 and May 7, would be the first since army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi overthrew Islamist Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
After Morsi's ouster, Sisi announced plans for a new constitution, to be followed by presidential and parliamentary elections.
The new charter was adopted in January 2014 and Sisi elected president in May.
The same court had dissolved the previous Islamist-dominated parliament, which was elected after the 2011 uprising that forced dictator Hosni Mubarak from power.
It ruled that parts of the law under which it was elected were unconstitutional.
That decision granted broad legislative powers to the presidents in the absence of an assembly, and Sisi decreed the new electoral law.
The court heard Wednesday government arguments that the law was constitutional after several appeals were filed pointing at loopholes in it.
The disputes center on the redrawing of electoral districts and political rights of candidates for office.
The court is hearing claims that the law does not represent all districts fairly, and that it also restricts the representation of Egyptians living abroad.
Also challenged is a clause under which female MPs can be dismissed from the assembly only if they change their party or independent affiliation, while men are open to a variety of other possible causes for dismissal as well.
The court, in a hearing broadcast on state television, said it will rule on Sunday.
The election will be held under a complex system that is supposed to produce a representative parliament.
Twenty-seven of the assembly's 567 seats will be appointed directly by the president, with the rest contested through party lists or on an individual basis.
Critics say that with Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood having been crushed and banned, the elections are likely to be dominated by Sisi loyalists.
The elections are important to Sisi as he seeks to shore up his standing in the eyes of Western governments that condemned his overthrow of Morsi -- the country's first freely elected leader.
A government crackdown overseen by Sisi and targeting the Brotherhood has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.
Even secular and liberal activists, including several who played a prominent role in the 2011 revolt against Mubarak, have been jailed for holding unauthorized protests.
Source: Agence France Presse
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