Interim Prime Minister: Egypt to hold polls in September

ABU DHABI: Egypt’s prime minister signalled his country’s parliamentary elections will be held in late September, during a visit to the United Arab Emirates on Monday. Some new political groups want the vote delayed, fearing the September date gives the upper hand to remnants of the disbanded former ruling party and the Muslim Brotherhood, which are better established and have greater resources. But interim Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said the poll would go ahead as planned. “Until now it’s business as usual, the dates will be determined by the referendum. The (parliamentary) election will be in late September and after that, presidential elections,” Sharaf told reporters in Abu Dhabi. Several political parties formed in the wake of President Hosni Mubarak’s ousting in February have called for a delay in elections so the fledgling groups can organise themselves.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2011.