Egypt's parliament refers political rights bill to constitutional court

Egypt's parliament decided on Sunday to refer a bill on exercising political rights to the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) after the bill was amended in line with the court's remarks, state-run MENA news agency reported. "The Shura Council (upper house of the parliament) approved the remarks of the constitutional court and decided to send the bill back to the court to determine whether it conforms to them," Shura Council Speaker Ahmed Fahmi was quoted by as saying. On May 25, the SCC said nine articles of the political rights bill were "unconstitutional." The articles were mainly related to the use of religious slogans during electoral campaigns and security personnel's right to vote.