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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A new page is turned
By Gamal Essam El-DinAs expected, the presidential decree amending three laws that regulate parliamentary elections won unanimous approval from the People's Assembly and Shura Council. The votes came in extraordinary sessions held on Saturday and Sunday. The decree was issued last Thursday in response to a historic ruling two weeks ago by the Supreme Constitutional Court. The ruling stated that the judiciary must supervise all polling stations in parliamentary elections. Its effect was described by Prime Minister Atef Ebeid as "turning a new page" and commented that it was a positive change in the exercise of democracy.
The three amended laws were Law 73 of 1956, on the exercise of political rights, Law 38 of 1972, regulating the performance of the People's Assembly and Law 120 of 1980, regulating the Shura Council.
Six amendments were introduced to Articles 24, 31, 34, 36, 22 and 28 of the 1956 law. The first, complying with the 8 July ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court, states that the main and auxiliary polling stations be monitored exclusively by members of the judiciary. The judiciary will choose from among its own members those assigned to this task. A list of their names will then be submitted to the justice minister for coordination purposes.
The modification to Article 31 states that, in the balloting process, voters can produce either a registration card or any other identification papers to prove that their name is registered on the voter list. Consequently, even voters who lose their registration cards will still be entitled to take part in the ballot.
The modification to Article 34 states that the vote-counting committee will be chaired by the head of the main polling station and include the heads of two auxiliary stations. The actual vote-counting process, however, will need to be conducted in the presence of the heads of all auxiliary polling stations.
Article 36 now states that the head of the main polling station is responsible for announcing election results and the total votes won by each candidate.
The modified Articles 22 and 28 state that the dates of general and run-off elections are to be set by the president and the interior minister. The announcement of election dates will henceforth be made 30 days prior to the poll, instead of the previous 45 days. Balloting stations will open from 8am until 7pm. They previously shut down at 5pm.
The 1972 law regulating the People's Assembly and the 1980 law regulating the Shura Council both dictate that citizens wishing to run for election should submit written "nomination requests" to their local security department. The amendments reduce the time span required for this process from 10 days to five. Time frames for announcing the official candidates lists and for contesting nominations were also reduced.
According to Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Kamal El-Shazli the amendment of Article 24 of the 1956 law on political rights requires that the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for November, be staged over several days, instead of a single day. "Tentatively, they will be staged over a three-week period. This is because the number of judicial authority members [around 6,000] is not sufficient to supervise all 41,825 auxiliary polling stations on the same day. Similarly, time frames for the submission of nomination requests and contesting the official candidate lists will be shortened to give the judiciary a reasonable rest period between one stage and the next," said El-Shazli.
Another proposal is to reduce the number of auxiliary balloting stations by merging nearby stations. "This may reduce the total number of 42,000 auxiliary balloting stations to almost 18,000. And it will make it possible for the available 6,000 members of the judiciary to supervise these stations over three weeks," El-Shazli said.
He said that Interior Minister Habib El-Adli is holding a number of extraordinary meetings with members of the Supreme Police Council. They are reviewing measures necessary to ensure that comprehensive judicial supervision is realised as smoothly as possible. Justice Minister Farouk Seif El-Nasr has argued that merging a number of auxiliary balloting stations is the only possible solution, if judges are to head both main and auxiliary stations.
Before it won final approval, President Hosni Mubarak's decree passed through several stages. Last Thursday, the decree was first debated by the Constitutional and Legislative Committee of the Shura Council. Then, on Saturday, the presidential decree was approved by both the People's Assembly Legislative and Constitutional Committee as well as the Shura Council. Prime Minister Ebeid made it clear to the Shura Council that the government will bear the significant financial cost necessary to ensure the success of the reforms. The People's Assembly gave final approval on Sunday.
After the passing of the amendments, independent and opposition deputies argued greater measures were necessary. They demanded more freedom to organise and stronger safeguards against voter list tampering. "This is the only way to ensure the integrity of elections," said Ayman Nour, a Wafdist deputy.
