Report: Vote Law Takes Final Step After Parliament Vote Friday

The parliament will convene on Friday to vote on the newly approved electoral law amid reports claiming that the parliament's term will be extended for 12 months instead of 11, al-Joumhouria daily reported.

Reports circulated a day earlier claimed that the parliament's term will be extended for one year, although it has been announced that the polls will be staged on May 6, 2018, said the daily.

Lawmakers are to deliver their remarks during the legislative session which will take place at 2:00 pm. All deputies are aware that there is no possibility of any structural change in the law, which was the result of hard work, and that it will be published immediately after ratification before the end of the extended parliamentary mandate next Monday, it added.

The interior ministry will begin preparations for the polls, mainly the electronic card to be used by voters to cast their ballots which needs according to Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq a seven-months time frame.

Starting next week, the parliament's attention will turn to study and approve the State's annual budget along with next year's draft budget law, which the related authorities at the finance ministry have already begun preparing.

The government announced a new election law after a cabinet session Wednesday, ending months of tense discussions and paving the way for the first parliamentary elections in nine years.

The deal comes after a stalemate that has seen the country's parliament extend its term twice since the last elections in 2009.

Under the agreement, the current parliament's term will be extended once again, but this time for just 11 months to prepare for elections under the new rules in May 2018.

Parliament is scheduled to vote on the law on Friday.

The new law replaces the existing 1960 majoritarian voting system with proportional representation and reduces the number of electoral districts.

It comes after years of wrangling during which key political parties rejected various proposals for fear of losing parliamentary seats.