Head of electoral list: None of the candidates qualify for speaker

Sameh Seif al-Yazal, the general coordinator of For the Love of Egypt list, speculated in an interview with Al-Arabiya that the upcoming parliament’s speaker will be one of the MPs appointed by the president.

Seif al-Yazal explained in the interview on Tuesday that his coalition did not aim to include a candidate for parliamentary speaker while forming its list, and that none of the candidates running in the elections qualify for the position.

The For the Love of Egypt list came on top in the preliminary results of the first phase of elections. The second round of voting is slated for November 21.

Yazal’s coalition dominated the list system, which accounts for 120 seats of the parliament’s 568.

The Constitution allows President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to appoint 5 percent of the parliament’s members, constituting 28 seats. Among the names speculated to be picked by Sisi are former interim President Adly Mansour, former Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi and former Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaa Eddin.

Yazal also provided an answer for one of the most pressing questions surrounding the work of the upcoming parliament, stating that the parliament would likely approve all the laws issued by Sisi in the absence of a legislative body.

According to the Constitution, the parliament is meant to revise and approve all laws passed in its absence within 15 days of its convening. Laws that are not discussed or approved by the parliament within this period are to be retroactively revoked.

Yazal denied widespread accusations that sovereign bodies had chosen his list’s candidates. However, he acknowledged a voluntary collaboration with these bodies, which he says the list used to check potential candidates who were suspected to be Muslim Brotherhood members.