An Egyptian court on Tuesday deferred a long-awaited parliamentary election due in March indefinitely after another court declared the election law’s provision on voting districts as unconstitutional, judicial sources said. 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. This delay prolongs a period in which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has wielded sole legislative authority and slows Egypt’s progress towards democracy since its first freely elected president was ousted by the army in 2013.
The decision by Egypt’s Administrative Court came as expected after a ruling on Sunday by the Supreme Constitutional Court against an article on voting districts in an election law which heralded a likely delay to the poll.
The first phase of voting was due to begin on March 22.
The spokesman for the High Election Committee, which said on Sunday it was working on a new timetable, told Reuters on Tuesday a new date would be set after the law had been amended.
Sisi directed his government to change the law within one month. Analysts say it could be several months before elections were held.
Full Article: Egypt court defers parliamentary election: judicial sources | Reuters.
