No new medical tests for parliament candidates registered in March: Egypt’s HEC

Source: 
Ahram Online
Publication date: 
Sep 01 2015

Egypt’s parliamentary elections hopefuls, who previously passed medical check-ups in February before the postponement of the elections, do not need to take new tests to qualify for the polls that start mid-October, the High Elections Committee (HEC) said on Tuesday.

 

In a statement, the committee said its decision would make the election process easier for candidates.

Passing medical tests is mandatory for candidates to register for running in the parliamentary elections. The tests cost EGP 2850 ($365).

The elections, previously scheduled for March, were postponed three weeks before they were set to begin after the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the Constituencies Division Laws were “unconstitutional."

The laws have since been modified. On Sunday, the HEC announced a new timetable for the elections scheduling them into two stages on 17-18 October and 1-2 December.

Egypt's parliament – or the House of Representatives – ‎will comprise of 596 members, 448 elected as independents ‎and 120 from party-based lists. The remaining 28 seats ‎will be filled by presidential appointees. Egypt has around ‎‎55 million registered voters.‎ 

Egypt has been without a parliament since the house of representatives elected in late 2011 was dissolved in June 2012, following a court ruling that judged the law regulating its election to be unconstitutional.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi holds legislative powers until an elected parliament convenes.

Once a parliament is elected its members will have to vote on all laws issued by El-Sisi, and his predecessor interim president Adly Mansour.

 

Source: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/139402.aspx