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Boycott threat as parties reject electoral law
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, tipped as favourites in the nation's first free elections, has threatened to boycott the upcoming parliamentary polls, along with other groups, demanding scrapping of reservation of one third of the seats for non-party candidates.
A political bloc of over 50 parties or groups led by the Brotherhood has sought an amendment to the country’s recently announced electoral law, as they fear this would lead to the return to parliament of loyalists of the Hosni Mubarak regime.
Egypt’s military rulers recently announced the timetable for the nation as first parliamentary elections since the fall of the Mubarak regime, but the electoral law governing the process prompted immediate expressions of concerns.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the groups set a deadline of Sunday for their demands to be met, a report in Al Jazeera said.
The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) had announced that the parliamentary elections would begin on November 28 and would be held over a period of four months.
The objections stem from Article Five of the electoral law, which bans political parties from running in a third of the seats, that are reserved for independent candidates.
The statement by the group said the changes proposed by them to the electoral law would effectively bar many supporters of Mubarak from running for office.
“We reject participation in the elections unless the article is changed,” said the statement, also signed by the coalition of The Democratic Alliance, which includes 37 parties along with the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party (FJP).
In the post-Mubarak era, the FJP is the largest and best organised political party in Egypt, widely believed to be a major political force.
A political bloc of over 50 parties or groups led by the Brotherhood has sought an amendment to the country’s recently announced electoral law, as they fear this would lead to the return to parliament of loyalists of the Hosni Mubarak regime.
Egypt’s military rulers recently announced the timetable for the nation as first parliamentary elections since the fall of the Mubarak regime, but the electoral law governing the process prompted immediate expressions of concerns.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the groups set a deadline of Sunday for their demands to be met, a report in Al Jazeera said.
The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) had announced that the parliamentary elections would begin on November 28 and would be held over a period of four months.
The objections stem from Article Five of the electoral law, which bans political parties from running in a third of the seats, that are reserved for independent candidates.
The statement by the group said the changes proposed by them to the electoral law would effectively bar many supporters of Mubarak from running for office.
“We reject participation in the elections unless the article is changed,” said the statement, also signed by the coalition of The Democratic Alliance, which includes 37 parties along with the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party (FJP).
In the post-Mubarak era, the FJP is the largest and best organised political party in Egypt, widely believed to be a major political force.
