Administrative Court has referred appeals to dissolve the council to the State Commissioner’s Authority, which will prepare a report on it to help the courts make a decision. Given that SC elections used the same electoral system as did elections for the PA, it can be expected that the State Commissioner’s Authority will reach the same finding as in the PA case. New People’s Assembly and Shura Council Elections The new Article 60(B) added to the Constitutional Declaration by the June 2012 Addendum provides that parliamentary elections will be held one month after a referendum has approved a new constitution. Although Article 3 of President Morsi’s decree issued on July 8 provides that parliamentary elections would be held “within 60 days from the date of approval by parliament of the new constitution and the completion of the People’s Assembly law,” the SCC’s ruling issued on July 10 suspends that decree. The addendum to Article 38 of the Constitutional Declaration provides that parliamentary elections will be conducted according to an electoral system specified by law. In September 2011, the SCAF amended this article, providing that a mixed electoral system would be used for the imminent PA elections. Altering this article again through the recent addendum suggests that parliamentary elections will now take place under a new electoral system that has yet to be specified. The timing of the next parliamentary elections will depend on whether the Constituent Assembly reformed in June 2012 is able to continue its work for the full six months as provided in the Constitutional Declaration. If so, the assembly will have until December 2012 to finalize the draft constitution and a referendum would then be held mid-January 2013, followed by parliamentary elections in March. A similar timetable is likely if the Supreme Administrative Court decision dissolves the Constituent Assembly and the SCAF appoints a replacement. Under the addendum, that new assembly would have just three months to draft a constitution, followed by a referendum within 15 days and preparations for parliamentary elections to commence a month later. This indicates that parliamentary elections would also likely take place in March 2013. New Electoral Systems for PA and SC Elections Given the SCC’s ruling, it appears that new electoral systems for the PA and SC must be devised. The new constitution is likely to set broad parameters for those systems, although the main provisions concerning PA elections in the 1971 constitution were limited to stating the number of members of the PA; their term of office; the requirement for half the members of the PA to be workers or farmers; and supervision of the elections by the HJEC. It would be possible for the constitution to specify the type of electoral system to be used, although if previous practice is followed, this would mean it could only be changed by referendum. In any event, the SCAF will need to issue a decree for a new parliamentary electoral system using its legislative power under the addendum. This should be done as far in advance of the election as possible to allow the HJEC, political parties and potential candidates to adapt to the changes. Public education and information campaigns will also be required, depending on the extent of the changes. The Constituent Assembly and the SCAF can expect to receive considerable legal advice on the changes needed to remedy the defects identified by the SCC.27 If the main elements of the mixed system are retained, it will not be enough to prevent party candidates from contesting individual candidate seats, since the SCC’s judgment suggests that a way must be found to allow independent 27 The opportunity should also be taken to remedy technical defects in the law, for example those concerning the seat allocation formula identified in the IFES Briefing Paper, Elections in Egypt: Analysis of the 2011 Parliamentary Electoral System. November 1, 2011. IFES Page 8 of 18