CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s parliamentary poll looks set to be delayed after a court ruled that part of an election law was unconstitutional and the main election committee said it was working on a new timetable for the long-awaited vote.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi directed his government to make amendments to the law, which defines electoral districts, within one month.
The first phase of the parliamentary poll is due to start on March 22. The election is the final step in a political roadmap the army announced in July 2013.
Another court ruling later this month will definitively decide whether or not the elections will be delayed.
The latest development highlights Egypt’s rocky path towards democracy since the ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013 by the army after mass protests against the rule of Egypt’s first democratically elected leader.
Egypt has been without a parliament since June 2012 when a court dissolved the democratically elected main chamber, reversing a major accomplishment of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
“The committee will prepare a new timetable for (election) measures after the legislative amendments are issued,” a statement from the Supreme Election Committee said.
Earlier, the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that an article in a law defining electoral districts was unconstitutional.
“The court’s ruling imposes the necessity of delaying the elections,” said political science professor Hassan Nafaa.
“The new law may combine or add electoral districts, therefore the door for candidates’ registration has to be reopened and that means we are, practically speaking, looking at a delay of no less than three months.”
Egyptian leaders say the election shows their commitment to democracy. Critics say Sisi, who as army chief toppled Mursi, has undermined freedoms gained after the uprising that ended Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
In the absence of parliament, Sisi has wielded legislative authority to introduce economic reforms that have impressed investors, while also curtailing political freedoms
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The People’s Assembly is made up of 567 seats, with 420 elected as individuals and 120 through winner-takes-all lists with quotas for women, Christians and youth. The remaining seats are appointed by the president.
Several opposition political parties had announced they would boycott the election. Some say the emphasis on individuals was a throwback to Mubarak-era politics, which often favoured candidates with wealth and family connections.
Egypt is trying to burnish its image in the run-up to an investors’ summit in mid-March which the government sees as playing a key role in turning around a battered economy.
Egyptian businessman Seif Fahmy told Reuters that many investors are waiting to see the make up of the next government.
“We really want to see what the next government is going to look like,” he said.
