
Dr. Hossam Badrawi, the political thinker, said that the Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling invalidating 28 districts is a respectable and decisive judgment, but the ongoing debate surrounding these elections deals with the symptoms, not the root of the problem, and does not fulfill the goals and philosophy of the Constitution. He added: “The ruling corrects the situation at the moment, but it does not solve the original issue.”
Badrawi added, in exclusive statements to Al-Hurriya, that the near-absolute involvement of the executive authority in choosing members of parliament, and in the process itself, is the main reason for society’s lack of trust. He noted that the current system of a single, absolute closed-list with no competition resembles a disguised appointment process.
He continued: “As for what is being circulated about large sums of money being paid to secure places for certain candidates on these lists, this has neither been confirmed nor denied by the responsible authorities. Is it true or not? And if it is, where did these millions come from and where do they go?”
The political thinker added: “Doubts still remain regarding the eligibility of some candidates in the individual seats, in addition to the large size of the current electoral districts, which fails to ensure a balanced geographic distribution and prevents citizens from having a direct connection with their representatives.”
He explained: “Taking into consideration the violations recorded in the first and second stages of the elections, and then the recent ruling to repeat the elections, this leaves society in a state of confusion, anxiety, and mistrust.”
Badrawi concluded: “The solution lies in reconsidering the overall political climate and amending the electoral laws in a way that provides fair and balanced representation, and opens the door to genuine political opposition, so that the two chambers of parliament truly reflect two distinct roles. And all of this will remain incomplete without local elections, in implementation of the decentralization principles established by the Constitution but never carried out.”

