Egypt to hold parliamentary elections in six months

Cairo: Egypt will hold new parliamentary elections once amendments to its suspended constitution are approved in a referendum, the interim head of state decreed on Monday, setting out a timeframe that could see a legislative vote in about six months. [caption id=“attachment_940649” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Celebrations after Morsi’s ouster. AP[/caption] A presidential election would be called once the new legislative chamber convenes, the decree said. It set a four-and-a-half month timeframe for amendments to the country’s controversial, Islamist-tinged constitution that was passed into law in December. That constitution was suspended last week when the army removed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi from power following mass protests against his rule. Mansour, who is the interim leader, emerged from near-obscurity when he became head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, two days before Egypt’s military chief announced that Morsi had been deposed and was to be replaced by the chief justice. Mansour’s career in the judiciary took a prominent turn in 1984, when he became a judge on the state council and then its vice president. In 1992, he was appointed vice president to the Supreme Constitutional Court. He became chief justice following his predecessor’s retirement on June 30. Reuters, with inputs from AP