Representative government is a joke. Hiring people to make important decisions for us is a ridiculous idea on its face. And it's made all the more perverse by the fact that these candidates are from a very limited list drawn up by the ruling elite. Egypt's upcoming [?] election will be an even murkier and more unfair process than its American counterpart. The regime must be overthrown, and direct, local self-rule stood in its place.
While sifting through the implications of electoral laws is anything but sexy, the contours of Egypt’s electoral system are likely to structure competition in ways that are both lasting and important. The parties that are able to master the particularities of this system may emerge victorious in October or November, and thus gain substantial power in drafting a new constitution. Yet the SCAF’s process so far ensures that no one knows the rules or has time to organize, and will lead inevitably to electoral chaos if steps are not taken immediately.
The latest plan by the electoral commission has half of the parliament elected via party list (by which parties create lists of candidates who are awarded seats equivalent to the percentage of voters who choose their party), and half elected under the old system of district-level contests. What the SCAF has announced is, in political science terminology, a parallel system, one in which the two components of the legislative election operate separately.
http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=36476
