Wafd Party Chief al-Sayyed al-Badawy has rejected holding parliamentary elections using the single-winner system, saying, “This issue is refused by all political parties involved within the National Salvation Front with Wafd Party on top.”
In 2011, parliamentary elections took place using a system mixed between single-winner and list-based systems to guarantee representation of all political forces. This was in contrast to the much criticized single-winner system under the rule of ex-President Hosni Mubarak.
The Lower House of Representatives was dissolved in 2012 due to the illegality of election law, which had enabled competition between parties based on the mixed election system.
Several days ago, a committee of legal experts proposed amendments to the constitution drafted under the rule of ex-President Mohamed Morsy. These proposals included a return back to a single-winner system.
According to the constitutional declaration issued by interim leader Adly Mansour in July, the committee will submit proposals to another committee which would represent all segments. It would then be voted on before being put to a public referendum.
Badawy attributed the front’s rejection to “many reasons, including the proposed mixed government which tends toward the parliamentary system. [Under the current system] the party that wins the majority or the group of parties that forms an alliance would form the government, and the single-winner system would threaten the formation of the coming government.”
Badawy also added that the single-winner system would not allow representation of the youth of the 25 January and 30 June revolutions. It would also prevent the representation of women, Copts and other figures of society.
Regarding the dissolving of the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament, as proposed by the amendments, Badawy said, “Since 1923, there has been a parliament of two houses. More than 90 percent of countries have two houses, including the United States, France and England.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
