Egypt's Shura Council, the upper house of parliament which currently holds legislative powers, approved an amended political rights law on Wednesday in a procedural step a day after voting on each of the new amendments.
The Islamist-led legislative body, the majority of members of which hail from either the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) or the Salafist Nour Party, voted clause-by-clause during its Monday and Tuesday session on the 69-article law.
The amendments were introduced by the government after Egypt's Administrative Court ruled last month that the current version of the law – approved by the Shura Council on 21 February – was constitutionally and legally flawed.
The law was then referred back to the High Constitutional Court (HCC), which is not expected to issue a ruling on it in the near future.
The most controversial provision is Article 61, which bans the use of religious slogans in campaigning, and was replaced by an amendment that prohibits only slogans “based on gender and religious discrimination."
Also in the new law, members of the intelligence apparatus and the Administrative Control Authority were added to the list of those ineligible to vote in elections, along with police and military officers, according to the previous law.
Short link: