Egypt interim military rulers laid out on Wednesday plans for the country’s first elections since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, as the new cabinet is to be announced on Thursday.

Egypt interim military rulers laid out on Wednesday plans for the country’s first elections since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, as the new cabinet is to be announced on Thursday.

Parliamentary elections, scheduled for later this year, would be watched closely around the region as a test of the Arab democracy movement.
The new Parliament has been expected to initiate the writing of a new constitution.

The military rejected international monitors to oversee the elections for reasons of national sovereignty, refusing the suggestions of U.S. officials and many human rights groups.
However, the military said that independent Egyptian human rights organizations and other groups would be free to do so.

Mubarak’s regime was toppled last February following a popular uprising.
According to the plans, for the first time the complaints about electoral fraud or abuses will be resolved before a member is sworn in.
Major General Mahmoud Shaheen said the dates for the voting would be announced after September 18 by military decree.

Half of the seats would be chosen by voters in each district picking individual candidates running in winner-take-all races.
To fill the other seats, each voter would also chose a political party, and each party would receive a number of seats proportional to its share of the total vote, a system used in many countries to ensure the representation of minority views.

Members of the upper and lower houses of Parliament would be elected simultaneously, with two lines leading to two ballot boxes at each polling place. Districts have not yet been drawn.

NEW CABINET
On the other hand, a new cabinet is expected to be announced on Thursday amid ongoing protests in Cairo over the supposed slow pace of reform.

The new cabinet had been due to take the oath of office on Monday, but the ceremony was postponed due to demonstrations at Tahrir Square over the prime minister's choice of ministers.
The caretaker Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf, had hoped the cabinet reshuffle would persuade protesters to end a sit-in.

But the protesters have complained that the new cabinet retains ministers they wanted sacked for their alleged links to Mubarak.