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| Africa: North |
| Proposed Changes in Egypt's Election Law |
| 2005-02-27 |
| President Hosni Mubarak has ordered that Egypt's constitution be changed to allow more than one candidate to run in presidential elections. But restrictions remain on who can be a candidate. THE CURRENT SYSTEM: - Under the constitution, a presidential candidate must have approval by a third of the People's Assembly, or parliament, to be nominated. Parliament then must approve by two-thirds majority. The public then votes on the single candidate in a "yes" or "no" referendum. In the four elections since he came to power in 1981, Mubarak has been the sole nominee approved by parliament and the sole candidate passed by lawmakers for a popular referendum. He has won every referendum with more than 90 percent of the vote. THE CHANGES: - Mubarak gave guidelines to parliament for amending the constitution to eliminate the referendum and allow "direct, secret elections" for president with "guarantees to allow more than one candidate." - A certain number of parliament members or members of provincial and municipal councils must approve any candidate to be eligible to run. The exact number is still to be determined. - For the first elections held after the reform - the upcoming vote in September - each registered political party will be able to nominate one leader to run without the required support from parliament, which is currently dominated by Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party. In future presidential votes, all candidates will have to get parliamentary support. - A commission will be created "with full independence and neutrality" to oversee the presidential vote. Currently, there is no election commission for presidential or parliament votes. THE TIMETABLE: Parliament is to propose the amendment within two weeks, and then a national referendum will be held to approve it, most likely in May. |
| Posted by:tipper |