Egypt's Sisi Signs Electoral District Bill İnto Law

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Monday signed into law a bill that redraws the country's electoral map, paving the way for holding parliamentary election.



In a statement, presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said that the law divides Egypt into 241 electoral districts.



He noted that Egypt's parliamentary polls would be held under a simple majority voting system in 237 districts and under the proportional representation system in four districts.



The bill was approved by the Egyptian government last week and waited for approval from al-Sisi, who holds the legislative power in the absence of parliament.



Rifaat Qomsan, an adviser to the Egyptian Prime Minister for election affairs, said that the signing of the bill into law meant that the necessary legal structure for starting the parliamentary election was complete.



He said that the following step would be for Egypt's independent election commission to invite voters to cast ballot in the parliamentary election.



The law specifies 420 seats in the 540-seat parliament for candidates elected under the simple majority voting system and 120 seats for candidates elected under the proportional representation system.



The parliamentary elections are the last step on Egypt's transitional roadmap, which was adopted following the ouster by the military of President Mohamed Morsi in July of last year.



The transitional roadmap also included a referendum on an amended version of the 2012 constitution and presidential election.



The parliamentary elections are expected to be held in March, according to the Egyptian government.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Kahire