Hot debate inside Shura committee over rapid discussions of election law in Egypt

Shura Council legislative committee, which convened here on Saturday under Mohammad Toson, witnessed a hot debate among its members on the request of Sobhi Saleh, a committee member, to accelerate the discussions of 'the political rights law" to be finalized on Sunday. The committee members called for ending discussions over such legislation in a proper time in order not to make legal mistakes similar to what happened with the previous legislation that was rejected by the court. The debated legislation has raised differences among the Shura members, especially the article relevant to decreasing the age of exercising the political rights which is now 18 years old. Shura Council member Nagui el-Shehabi requested the age of eligible persons to be at the age of 16 years old and it was supported by former Mufti of Egypt Nasr Farid Wassel. Such amendment was rejected by Counselor Omar el-Sherif, representative of the Justice Ministry to the Shura Council committee, Also, the committee members objected to an article related to giving the rights of political practices to persons who were given presidential pardon without getting a court ruling to have their honor restored. However, such article was totally rejected by the Justice Ministry representative, noting that a presidential pardon means exemption from the punishment and not from the accusation itself. He asserted that such article would be considered a constitutional breach.