No blanket political isolation in Egypt's parliamentary polls: law drafting committee member

Ahram Online, Sunday 16 Nov 2014

Only those with convictions for political corruption will be excluded from Egypt's upcoming legislative elections, regardless of affiliation, says law professor on the committee drafting new electoral laws

Egypt's anticipated electoral law won't instigate blanket political isolation per se, but will deny anyone convicted on "political corruption" crimes the right to run for parliamentary elections, says a member of the committee tasked with drafting the bill.

Law professor Ali Abdel Al told Al-Ahram Arabic website Sunday that those who were not convicted on such crimes cannot be inhibited from taking part in next year's polls, regardless of their political affiliations.

There have been calls to prevent potential candidates who belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood, from which ousted president Mohamed Morsi hails, or the dissolved National Democratic Party of toppled predecessor Hosni Mubarak, from running.

The Egyptian cabinet is expected to approve the new draft law aimed at redrawing the country’s electoral constituencies Wednesday, Transitional Justice and House of Representatives Affairs Minister Ibrahim El-Heneidy told Al-Ahram daily in interview Sunday.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said recently parliamentary elections are expected to take place late March 2015.

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