Egyptian National Dialogue agrees on parliamentary election law

Egypt's official news agency MENA quoted the Egyptian Presidential Palace's announcement on January 1 that the national dialogue headed by President Mohamed Morsi had reached a consensus on amending the Law on Parliamentary Elections.

The announcement stated: "To bring the Election Law into line with the new Constitution, the sixth round of the national dialogue held on December 31 and January 1 discussed a number of amendments. This consensus will be forwarded to the cabinet and presented to the Senate, thereby maintaining the number of members of the House of Representatives at 498 people."

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. (Source: AP)

All 90 new members of the Senate appointed by President Morsi on December 22, 2012, will be sworn in when the Senate convenes its first session.

The national dialogue initiated by President Morsi aims to involve all political forces in Egypt.

The seventh round of dialogue will be held on January 9 to discuss the remaining constitutional provisions and proposed amendments. The Senate currently holds legislative power until a new parliament is elected.

Egypt's new constitution was approved last week with more than 63% of the vote in a referendum held in two phases. Voter turnout was approximately 64%.

Egypt has been plunged into its worst political crisis since President Morsi was elected after the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Constituent Assembly approved a draft new constitution last month.

Protests by President Morsi's supporters and the opposition take place almost daily in the capital Cairo.

According to regional observers, the approval of the new draft Constitution will not help Egypt end the current political deadlock, but on the contrary, may further fuel the outbreak of stronger protest activities.

The National Salvation Front (FN), Egypt's main opposition group, has called the referendum "just a battle" and vowed to continue fighting for the Egyptian people. Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and current leader of the FN, said that the adoption of the new constitution would "institutionalize instability in Egypt".

According to him, this Constitution should only be considered temporary until another draft constitution is drafted based on consensus among all parties./.

According to (TTXVN) - DT