Nūr ‘Alī of Al-Yāwm al-Sābiꞌ reports that Copts and women are the most controversial points discussed in the Shūrá Council on the parliamentary election law. While liberals demand more controls to represent them, the Islamists reject that on grounds of “no positive discriminations” among parliamentary factions.

The members of the Shūrá Council stated that the proposed amendments, which were submitted to the government by the Nūr Party as well as the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), include a number of positive points, such as allowing the presence of women in the first half of the electoral list and the monitoring by the media and organizations of civil society for the screening process, voting, and announcement of results in subcommittees. However, a number of Shūrá Council members had expressed reservations about the proposed electoral threshold, which would not guarantee the representation of Copts or women.

According to the Council member Salah Abd al-Ma’būd of the Nūr Party, any positive discrimination will be rejected by the Council except that stipulated in the Constitution on farmers and labors.  For her part, the member of the Constituent Assembly (CA), Dr. Suzie Nāshid, commented that all the segments that had been marginalized by the former regime should get their chance for equitable representation in the Lower House (House of the Representatives). She further demanded that there should be ample time for voters to know more about the candidates without any pressure, stressing the need to have a funding process and the source of electoral campaigns and penalties by rule of law for any breaches.

She explained that the institutions of civil society must be given full control over the election so that they are able to address any irregularities and ensure fair representation of all segments of society, such as youth, women, and Copts, in order to achieve full equality.

Dr. Nāshid emphasized that by not passing the electoral law nor holding elections within 60 days, there will be an opportunity for many to file lawsuits that confirm any constitutional violations, which should be made during the same week of the completion of the law in the legislative committee. It should then go to the general session on Wednesday and go to the Constitutional Court on Thursday.

In support of Dr. Nāshid proposals, the member of the CA, Dr. Sameh Fawzi, added that the Shūrá Council should include a provision that guarantees the rights of marginalized segments to be taken into consideration by the Council in representing them in the Lower House.

For his part, the spokesman of Ghad al-Thawrah Party, Dr. Muhammad Mohy al-Dīn, stressed the need to search for a mechanism to make the presence of women in the first half of the existing constitutional order not interfere with the text of non-discrimination, saying: “You must think about the solution not as a quota, but as a system that ensures the representation of minorities so that we have at least 20 Christian representatives in the parliament, because otherwise it is not logical that not one Copt or woman is represented in the parliament.”

MP Ahmad Yussīf Hassan, a member of the Shūrá Council for Construction and Development Party, rejects any positive discrimination for women because this will open the door for other factions to claim discrimination, such as the Nubians, as discrimination is incompatible with the principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution. He said that the ballot box should be the decisive point in the representation of Representatives in the Parliament.

The representative of the Democratic Front Party, ‘Amr ‘Alī, refers to the current electoral laws as not different from the ones issued in the Mubarāk era, saying: “Laws may change, but the intention to control as a majority is still exercised”. He stressed that the Muslim Brotherhood is keen to impose political isolation on the members of the dissolved National Democratic Party, for fear of their influence. Emphasizing that this is a big mistake, he added that any citizen who has been convicted of a crime involving moral depravity but had not received a penal sentence has full authority to stand for election and the right exercise all his political rights (Nūr ‘Alī, al-Yāwm al-Sābiꞌ, Jan. 5, p. 8).  Read original text in Arabic.