The Muslim Brotherhood will exclude 80 percent of its former parliamentarians from upcoming elections for the House of Representatives, according to the website of its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party.
The party is “very carefully” reviewing its electoral lists for the next polls, and will nominate only 20 percent of former MPs, Helmy al-Gazzar, the FJP’s Giza office chairman said Wednesday. He noted that candidates would be selected based on efficiency and expertise.
Gazzar also said he expects the party to win a majority in the lower house of Parliament, but said it would not sideline other political groups.
The FJP won 41 percent of seats in the People's Assembly in 2012, the largest bloc of any party, and acquired an overwhelming majority in the Shura Council in the first elections since the fall of Hosni Mubarak's regime.
The People's Assembly, the lower house of Parliament which has since been renamed the House of Representatives, was disbanded in June 2012 after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled the law governing its election was unconstitutional. The upper house, the Shura Council, is exercising legislative powers until a new lower house is elected, according to the new Constitution.
“If rational and wise (MPs) and opponents of polarization — regardless of affiliation — make it to parliament, they would work on serving the people and meeting their needs,” Gazzar said.
House elections are expected in April, with President Mohamed Morsy expected to set a date by 25 February, which is the deadline set in the new Constitution.
