Egypt’s Sissi amends electoral law ahead of vote

Cairo moves ahead with plans for first post-Morsi legislative elections before the end of the year

By AFP 3 August 2015, 2:20 am

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Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, center, speaks at the funeral of the top public prosecutor Hisham Barakat, killed in a terrorist attack, June 30, 2015. (Egyptian Presidency via AP, File)

CAIRO, Egypt — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has amended Egypt’s electoral law, paving the way for preparations to hold a long-delayed parliamentary vote, the official gazette reported on Sunday.

Legislative elections were initially due to take place between March 21 and May 7, but were delayed after the constitutional court deemed some provisions of the electoral law unconstitutional.

Amendments were subsequently made, namely concerning the drawing of constituency boundaries.

Sissi, who while still army chief deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013, had promised that parliamentary elections would be held before the end of 2015.

The election will be the first for a new parliament since Morsi’s ouster.