Government Postpons Municipal Elections

On Tuesday, the Egyptian government refered a draft law concerning the postponement of the municipal elections for two years to be enorsed by parliament.

By enacting this bill, the government is aiming to provide the ruling National Democratic Party with sufficient time to rearrange itself in preparation for the elections. Currently, the NDP is undergoing restructuring to be able to face its strongest rival, the Muslim Brotherhood, which outperformed it in the parliamentary vote. In fact, the Brotherhood picked up 88 seats despite the coercive government measures applied in both second and third rounds of ballots leaving 27 deaths.

The government proposed to put off the elections two years, instead of one, to focus on the elections of Shorah Council in the middle of the next year. For it would be difficult to both security and judiciary bodies to monitor two elections at the same time.