Egypt sets poll date
2005-09-20 20:36
Cairo - Egypt's legislative elections will kick off on November 8 for three weeks, a government official said on Tuesday.
The polls to elect a new People's Assembly will come exactly two months after the country's first pluralist presidential election, which saw incumbent Hosni Mubarak secure a fifth six-year term.
"The parliamentary elections will take place in three different stages in three geographic areas which have yet to be determined by the electoral commission," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The three election days would be held at 10-day intervals, he said.
Out of the Egyptian parliament's 454 MPs, 444 are elected while the remaining 10 are appointed by the president, whose National Democratic Party currently controls 404 seats.
The second largest force in parliament is the Muslim Brotherhood, which is officially banned but is expected to field around 150 candidates as independents.
Safwat al-Sherif, head of the consultative council and NDP secretary general, told Tuesday's Nahdet Masr daily the candidacy registration process would start on October 13.
The parliamentary polls are seen as even more politically significant than the recent presidential election, as the next People's Assembly will be tasked with discussing wide-ranging reforms.
Legislative elections in Egypt have often been marred by violence over the past 20 years.
- SAPA