Still undecided on which elections first

Interim President Adly Mansour reaffirmed that both presidential and parliamentary elections would be held six months after ratifying the constitution, however it remains unclear which will come first.

Mansour met Sunday with representatives of Egypt’s 27 governorates, as part of a series of dialogues with various political factions, state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported.

During the meeting, attendees discussed whether or not presidential elections should precede parliamentary elections or vice versa.

Whilst no final decision has been made on the matter, Mansour asserted holding presidential elections first is constitutional, as candidates would have to collect 25,000 signatures each from across the various governorates in the absence of a parliament.

A presidential statement said that 93 of the meeting attendees favored holding the presidential elections before the parliamentary elections, 67 preferred a single electoral system, and 28 favored a mixed system.

Article 230 in the draft constitution — to be voted on in January — was initially held in contention by members of the 50-member committee amending it, as it stipulated that parliamentary elections would be held first. After amendments, the article passed with 44 votes, stating that both parliamentary and presidential elections must be held 30 to 90 days after the constitution is ratified, but not specifying which would come first.

Mansour assured members that the electoral constituencies would include a fair representation from across Egypt’s governorates. He called on state institutions to secure all voting stations.