Egypt’s electoral commission has scraped the dates set for elections to the lower house of parliament after the country’s administrative court ordered the cancellation of President Mohamed Morsi’s decree calling the polls, state television reported Thursday.
In his decree issued on February 23, the President had announced that the country’s parliamentary elections would be held in four stages, beginning on April 22 and ending in late June. The move came after the Shura Council, the Upper House of Parliament, adopted an electoral law, which was subsequently ratified by the president.
Nevertheless, the administrative court noted in its ruling Wednesday that the Shura Council had forwarded the new legislation to the President for ratification before it was reviewed by the Supreme Constitutional Court to determine whether it was in accordance with the country’s constitution. The administrative court also ordered that the election law be referred to the Supreme Constitutional Court.
Islamist parties had secured majority of the seats in the lower house of the parliament in the January 2012 elections. Nevertheless, the Supreme court dissolved the assembly after finding that political party nominees had contested from seats reserved for independents. The upper house has been exercising legislative power in the absence of a lower house.
Egypt’s main opposition group, the National Salvation Front (NSF), has already announced its decision to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections due to concerns that they would not be free and fair. The NSF insists that the new electoral law favors Islamist parties, including President Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
The development comes amid unrest, insecurity and a crippling economic crisis in Egypt, with a divide between the parties that came to power in last year’s election and the more secular Opposition.
The Opposition accuses Morsi of being autocratic since taking office and his parent Muslim Brotherhood party of pushing through a disputed Constitution. The Opposition believes the new charter favors the Islamists and fails to protect the rights of women and the country’s minority Christian community.
Morsi is the leader of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) — the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. He was sworn in as Egypt’s first civilian and freely-elected President in June 2012.
by RTT Staff Writer
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