On Saturday, Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) declared several articles within the parliamentary elections law and the political practice law unconstitutional, SCC sources said.
Last April, the Shura Council signed into law modified copies of the parliamentary elections bill and the political rights bill, before referring them to the Supreme Constitutional Court to determine whether they were in line with the Constitution.
The Supreme Constitutional Court has ruled that articles 3, 13, 16, and 44 of the parliamentary elections law are unconstitutional, sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Saturday. The court ruled articles 1, 2, 10, 12, 16, 22, 31, 38, and 69 of the law on political practice unconstitutional, the sources continued.
The SCC issued its ruling on both laws on Saturday afternoon. The court will suggest amendments to those articles it deemed unconstitutional, sources added.
The sources said that articles in the parliamentary elections law related to the distribution of electoral constituencies and to candidacy exceptions were among those judged to be unconstitutional. One of these articles would have allowed governors to run for elections and remain in office for another month, until the announcement of the final lists of eligible candidates.
The sources added that the Court has asked that an amendment be made to an article criminalizing foreign funding of election campaigns.
On April 11, the Shura Council approved the two bills concerning parliamentary elections and the exercise of political rights and submitted them to the Supreme Constitutional Court for review.
The law governing parliamentary elections reorganizes electoral constituencies so that elections in 91 districts will be based on individual candidate lists and elections in 48 districts will be based on party lists, adding up to a total of 546 seats in Parliament.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
