Egypt: Meeting With Candidates Postponed, Electoral Timetable At Risk

After days of controversy, the presidential electoral Commission, this morning, announced that it would postpone a meeting scheduled for today with the candidates. The organism denounces criticisms against it in Parliament, which show “a lack of trust that prevents it from continuing its work satisfactorily.”

It is still unclear – reports the Egyptian press – if this decision will have an immediate effect on the date of the vote expected to take place next May 23 and 24. The commission has asked the Military Council to “exercise its constitutional powers” as an arbiter between the powers to help it conclude the procedures and ensure that the electoral process takes place on schedule.”

Meanwhile in Abbaseya, in Cairo, a curfew was enforced for the fourth consecutive night curfew in the streets around the Ministry of Defence, where there were clashes between security forces and demonstrators last Friday. News is expected concerning parliament’s decision, in the coming hours, over the fate of the government led by Kamal el Ganzuri. The Egyptian Parliament had suspended itself on April 29 for a week to secure the government’s resignation and the day after the Muslim Brotherhood announced that the military had committed to a reshuffle in the next two days. In that same period, however, violent riots broke out at the defense ministry, and the reshuffle has not yet occurred.

The institutional deadlock is also being fueled by the creation of a new Constituent Assembly that was de-facto suspended because it was considered by the Courts as being overly biased in favor of the Islamist forces.