File photo: General Coordinator of the National Dialogue Diaa Rashwan
In a statement on Tuesday, the General Coordinator of The National Dialogue Diaa Rashwan explained that 13 out of 19 committees under the dialogue have finalized specific proposals for legislative reforms to be reviewed by the trustee board before submitting them to the president.
In June, President El-Sisi said he would approve “without conditions or restrictions” all political, economic and social recommendations out of the National Dialogue per his presidential powers and according to the constitution.
Elections reform
The trustee board will review proposals for a new law to hold local councils elections based on a mixed election system - with 75 percent for closed lists and 25 percent for proportional lists.
It will also tackle proposed reforms to the election system for the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The committee for the exercise of political rights and parliamentary representation had proposed three different systems, which have been backed by three different groups of participants at the dialogue.
One group favours maintaining the current system, which uses both the closed list system and the individual system across four constituencies.
A second proposed a system based on a proportional list system in 15 constituencies nationwide.
The third proposal adopts mixed systems for elections, with half of the members elected through the individual system and the other half elected equally through closed and open proportional lists.
Political proposals also include increasing the number of members of the parliament’s two chambers and amending the law on the exercise of political rights.
Among the proposals to be reviewed are a proposal for a unified cooperatives law and amendments to the civil work law.
The board will discuss proposals for legislation to establish an anti-discrimination commission as well as proposals for academic freedoms.
Social proposals
The trustee board will discuss proposals to speed up the process of implementing the Comprehensive Health Insurance System in the country.
The board will also review proposals for a new guardianship law that aims to protect children.
It will also review proposals to allow stronger engagement of civil society in developing education and embed a stronger sense of national identity through the education process.
Economic proposals
The trustee board will discuss recommendations to develop industrial zones and tourism infrastructure.
It will also review recommendations to enhance the role of the state in securing agricultural production requirements.
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