CAIRO, Dec 10 (Aswat Masriya) – Egypt’s cabinet approved on Wednesday a draft law regulating electoral districts, in preparation for the coming parliamentary elections.

The law is yet to be issued by the president to come into effect.

Egypt’s coming parliament will be made up of 567 seats, as per the draft law; 420 members will be individually elected, 120 will join the parliament through electoral lists, and 27 members will be appointed by the president.

The draft divides Egypt into 232 electoral districts. 

The draft was referred to the State Council and the Supreme Electoral Commission for revision, said Refaat Qomsan, the prime minister’s advisor. 

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told an American economic delegation in November that Egypt's parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in the first quarter of 2015.

Former Interim President Adli Mansour issued on June 6 a law governing the coming parliamentary elections, shortly before ceding power. The law has been met with criticism by several political parties that have been calling for its amendment before the elections are held.

Political parties were pushing for more seats to be won through electoral lists rather than being individually elected.

Egypt has been operating without a lower house of parliament since the Supreme Constitutional Court deemed its People’s Assembly unconstitutional in June 2012.