Ahram newspaper reported on Saturday, the country’s first vote since a popular uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February after 30 years of autocratic rule.
Al-Ahram quoted Egypt’s election commission head, Abdel Moez Ibrahim, as saying voting for the lower house, the People’s Assembly, will be held in three stages starting on November 21 and ending on January 3. Voting for the upper house, the Shura Council, will begin on January 22, 2012 and finish on March 4. Election commission officials were not immediately available to comment on the reports and an army source said the date would be announced in the coming days.
The country’s ruling military council has been under popular pressure to fix a date for the election it promised when it took over after Mubarak was forced to step down.
No date has been fixed for the presidential poll, which the military council has said was to follow the parliamentary vote.
Many Egyptians had grown worried the military council was dragging its feet in starting preparations for a transition to democracy. Some feared the military council was hesitant about handing power to civilians.
Full Article: Egypt to start parliamentary vote on November 21: Al-Ahram | Reuters.
