Preparations Underway in Egypt to Allow Expats to Vote in Senate Elections

Egypt's Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs meets with Chairman of the National Elections Authority (NEA) in Cairo on Monday, July 6, 2020. (Egyptian government)
Egypt's Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs meets with Chairman of the National Elections Authority (NEA) in Cairo on Monday, July 6, 2020. (Egyptian government)
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Preparations Underway in Egypt to Allow Expats to Vote in Senate Elections

Egypt's Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs meets with Chairman of the National Elections Authority (NEA) in Cairo on Monday, July 6, 2020. (Egyptian government)
Egypt's Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs meets with Chairman of the National Elections Authority (NEA) in Cairo on Monday, July 6, 2020. (Egyptian government)

The Egyptian government has kicked off preparations for the Senate elections, scheduled to be held on August 11-12.

The National Elections Authority (NEA) announced on Monday that expatriates will be allowed to vote over two days starting August 9.

Minister of State for Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs Nabila Makram discussed Monday with NEA Chairman Lasheen Ibrahim the voting mechanism for expats.

She pledged to cooperate with the NEA to provide all the facilitations possible for expatriates to cast their votes.

She highlighted the national role played by Egyptians abroad and their participation in all constitutional entitlements.

Lasheen said the Immigration Ministry will be provided with all the necessary information about the candidates, their electoral constituencies and their resumes once the list of nomiees is finalized.

“The Ministry will also be provided with voting mechanisms and controls for Egyptians abroad.”

Once the list is completed, it will be published on the Ministry’s official website, Makram stated.

The Senate will include 300 seats, one third of which will be elected via the individual candidacy system, another third to be elected through the closed party list system and a third to be named by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The constitution stipulates that its members will serve for a five-year term.

The Senate was revived as part of constitutional amendments approved in a national referendum in April last year. The Senate was dropped from the constitution in 2014.



Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia with at Least Eight Dead, 29 Rescued

Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
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Migrant Boat Sinks off Tunisia with at Least Eight Dead, 29 Rescued

Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)
Representation photo: Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)

Tunisia's coast guard on Monday recovered the bodies of eight African migrants after their boat sank off the country's coast as it sailed towards Europe, a security official told Reuters, adding that 29 other people were rescued.

The boat sank in waters off the city of Abwabed near Sfax, a departure point often used by African migrants.

Search operations were underway for possible missing persons, said Houssem Eddine Jebabli, an official in the national guard.

Tunisia is grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as a major departure point for both Tunisians and others in Africa seeking a better life in Europe.