Sami Annan, vice president of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), hinted on Tuesday that the council intends to hold parliamentary elections in September.
News reports had indicated that the council was still undecided as to whether it should extend the transition period and the elections in order to provide ample time for writing a new constitution, as demanded by various political forces.
“The constitutional declaration was clear,” Annan said. “It meets all the requirements of the current phase."
In March, the SCAF declared an interim constitution for the transitional phase, under which the parliamentary elections would be held in September, and the elected parliament would undertake the writing of a new constitution.
Annan pledged to hold free and fair parliamentary elections. “The people will choose their rulers themselves,” he said in a meeting with the Democratic Alliance for Egypt, a coalition of 15 different political parties.
The meeting was held after the coalition rejected a draft law for parliamentary elections that was approved in principle by the government on Sunday.
Annan stressed that the armed forces have been standing by the people since the revolution. “Our mission is to defend the people of Egypt, not abuse them,” he said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
