Egypt’s military rulers respond to legislative demands of political powers

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has responded in part to the demands of political powers with regards to parliamentary laws, al-Masry al-Youm reported on Sunday citing the state news agency MENA.

The SCAF has decided to amend draft parliamentary laws so that two thirds of candidates are elected through the list-based candidacy system and a third through the single-winner system.

Political powers held lengthy discussions with representatives from the SCAF last week and asked for the exclusive use of the list-based candidacy system.

According to MENA, SCAF chief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said that the Egyptian army was not a party in the political conflict and was not interested in the implementation of a particular parliamentary system, nor has it a bias towards certain political powers.

“The army will only be in power for a transitional period until power is handed over to a civilian authority through a sound democratic process,” he said, according to al-Masry al-Youm.

Political powers threatened to boycott the elections if the SCAF insisted on using a half-half mix of the list-based and the single winner systems. They said this would help former National Democratic Party members form a bloc within parliament through their financial power and clan relations.

The SCAF will ask the government to amend the law on electoral constituencies, MENA reported, adding that parliamentary laws were expected to be finalized this week.