CAIRO - The Egyptian government approved late on Wednesday draft parliamentary election laws that introduce a partial proportional representation system, state news agency MENA said. The draft laws make it harder for any group to secure a clear majority and may head off challenges to the powerful presidency. MENA said the draft law must be approved by the ruling military council before it goes into effect. Under the draft laws, half of the 500-seats of the lower house of parliament will be chosen through a proportional list system and the other half will be contested on an individual basis, the cabinet statement said. The draft laws also encourage women to run in the elections, suggesting they be placed in the top half of the candidates lists, reduces the age of candidates eligible to run to 25. The draft laws are not likely to be welcomed by the country's nascent liberal and secular political parties, many of which were formed after the January 25 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, or the country's best-organised political group, the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood, banned under Mubarak but tolerated, has formed a political party which plans to contest half of parliament's seats. Under Mubarak, candidates ran as individuals in an electoral system which critics say was designed to ensure solid majorities for the ruling National Democratic Party, dissolved after the February 11 ouster of Mubarak. "This draft law will have devastating effect on democracy in the country," said Mohammed Fawzy, a political analyst and an activist in the Democratic Front Party. The National Progressive Unionist Party, another leftist party, also rejected the draft laws.
