Egypt parliamentary elections to start on October 17

Cairo, August 31

Egypt’s legislative elections, the first since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took office, are to be contested in phases starting October 17, the Electoral Commission announced on Sunday.

Analysts say the polls, with Sisi loyalists heavily favoured to emerge the big winners, will serve to appease Egypt’s backers in the West who see the President as a rampart against jihadist violence despite concerns over repression that has eliminated any meaningful opposition.

A new Parliament will be in place “by the end of the year”, according to Ayman Abbas, head of the Electoral Commission.

The polls had initially been scheduled for early 2014 but were repeatedly delayed on legal grounds amid charges from rights groups of repressive measures during a crackdown on the Islamist opposition.

The October 17-December 2 elections will be contested more than two years after the military under Sisi, who was then army chief and won a presidential election last year, toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, whose now-banned Muslim Brotherhood had swept Egypt’s last legislative vote in late 2011.

The constitutional court had ruled in March that part of the electoral law was unconstitutional, prompting the latest delay before the electoral commission began work on setting the new dates. — AFP