Cairo: The Egyptian government on Wednesday approved a draft law on electoral districts, clearing the last hurdle for holding the long-awaited parliamentary elections.
The draft envisages dividing the country into 232 constituencies, depending on the number of registered voters in each constituency, an Egyptian official said.
Cairo, Egypt’s most populous city, has the lion’s share of constituencies with 48 electoral districts, according to Refaat Qumsan, an adviser to the prime minister.
He added following a cabinet meeting that the new parliament or the House of Representatives will be made up of a total of 567 seats.
“According to the constitution, 420 seats will be allocated for independents, 120 for party-based candidates and 27 will be appointed by the president of the republic,” he said.
The draft is now to be referred to the State Council, a judicial body in charge of examining the legality of governmental draft laws.
President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, who temporarily wields legislative power, has recently promised that the parliamentary elections will be held before the end of March. No specific date has been set.
The election will be the third and final step in a road map for democratic transition unveiled by the army after the ouster of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi in mid-2013 following enormous street protests against his one-year rule.
The first two steps were rewriting an Islamist-crafted constitution and holding presidential elections swept by Al Sissi earlier this year.
Critics have accused the government of deliberately delaying the parliamentary polls allegedly to allow time for Al Sissi’s loyalists to forge an alliance to contest the election.
The government has denied the accusation, pledging to hold a fair vote once procedural arrangements are finalised.
