Egypt's NEA Prepares for Senate Elections

The National Elections Authority (NEA) is preparing for the election of the Senate (upper camera in the Egyptian legislative bodies).

The authority started its activities after the issuance of the Senate law and passing law amends of both the Law Regulating the Exercise of Political Rights and the House of Representatives and the Law of the National Elections Commission.

These amendments came as implementation of the constitutional amendments that the people agreed to in April of last year.

Preparations are now underway to elect the first Senate in Egypt after decades of absence.

The NEA's executive body is currently preparing for these elections and preparing for the necessary decisions to be taken. It is also working to define the electoral committees where electorate cast ballots.

It takes into account necessary measures to confront the Coronavirus pandemic that would prevent the crowding of voters in front of the electoral booths to facilitate the electoral procedures.

The Board of Directors of the National Elections Commission chaired by Judge Lasheen Ibrahim - Vice-President of the Court of Cassation - will hold a meeting within the coming hours to consider what Judge / Osama Ghazi - Director of the NEA and his assistants have made of the decisions and arrangements necessary for the elections to be approved and issued.

It also sets the date of the conference held by the board of directors of the NEA, in which the council chairman announces the invitation of the voters to elect the members of the Senate inside and outside Egypt, the nomination dates and the timetable for these elections.

On the other hand, the General Secretariat of the House of Representatives (HoR) headed by Chancellor Mahmoud Fawzi issued a statement, days earlier, explaining the procedures for the return of the Senate after its cancellation several decades ago.

The statement indicated that a sufficient number of staff of the HoR will be transferred to the Senate.

Priority will be given for the staff who were previously transferred from the Shura Council, which was canceled years ago.

The transferred staff will maintain the same fiscal degrees and seniority they enjoy and will also keep salaries, allowances and bonuses, and all the financial rights assigned to them in their previous posts.

The statement pointed out that the Senates Law regulated the procedures that result from the revival of the council.

The law stipulates that a sufficient number of the stuff in the HoR should be transferred to the Senate.

Transferring will be completed by an application submitted to the Secretary-General of the HoR within a period not exceeding seven days from the date of enforcement of this law, and the applicant is granted a receipt indicating the application.

All the assets of the canceled Shura Council will be transferred to the Senate.

The assets had been transferred to the HoR including the Shura Council building which in Cairo and its equipment.