Catherine MacDonald
Egypt’s foreign minister Nabil Fahmy said on Friday that Egyptians will vote in parliamentary elections between February and March, followed by presidential polls in early summer.
Mr Fahmy also said the political arm of the banned Muslim Brotherhood could take part in the poll.
His comments provided the most specific timeline yet for the end of the interim army-backed government and a return to electoral politics in the country.
Mr Fahmy said that the Freedom and Justice Party, political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, “is still legal in Egypt” and free to participate in the parliamentary election.
The Brotherhood failed in an attempt on Wednesday to overturn a court ruling banning it. Mr Morsi, removed from power in July, himself is on trial on charges of inciting violence during his rule.
Speaking during a visit to Spain, he said presidential elections would be announced “by the end of next spring” and that the elections would be held “a maximum of two months after the announcement”.
“So you’re looking at elections in the summer for president, that’s the last step,” he said.
He had said in September that the transitional phase of government should end “by next spring”, though he did not give specific dates at that time.
The elections will come after a referendum on a new constitution, which Mr Fahmy said would be held in December. A 50-member committee is working on amending a constitution that was drafted under Mr Morsi by an Islamist-dominated assembly.
Since July, the army-backed government has carried out a security crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. Its leaders are behind bars, as are more than 2,000 of its members and supporters and hundreds of Islamists have been killed.
Last month, Washington curtailed military aid to Egypt, which has long been the second-largest recipient of. S aid after Israel and a key regional ally.
US officials said the aid cut reflected Washington’s unhappiness with Egypt’s path since July.
Mr Fahmy has since called the state of Washington’s ties with its longtime ally “turbulent” and suggested that Egypt would look beyond the US to meet its security needs, and has repeatedly named Russia as a partner with whom Cairo hopes to deepen ties.
“I sense a desire and see an interest in expanding military cooperation with Russia,” he said. “That does not mean that we will not expand military cooperation with the US at the same time,” he added, a step down from his recent sharp critiques of Washington.
“We need to get a full hand on the security issues in Egypt but that is progressing, so we can receive tourists again,” he said.
Reuters