CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt will hold parliamentary elections on Oct. 24-25, elections commissioner Lasheen Ibrahim told a televised press conference on Thursday.
Egypt last held elections for the House of Representatives in 2015. The chamber is dominated by supporters of President Abel-Fattah al-Sisi, who took power in 2013 after the army removed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi following mass protests against his rule.
In 2018 Sisi was re-elected with 97% of votes, the same proportion that the former military commander secured four years ago for his first term but with a lower turnout.
In August, Egypt held elections for a newly created Senate, an advisory body. Voter turnout came to only 14.23%, which commentators attributed to the coronavirus pandemic, a lack of awareness about the new chamber, and voter apathy.
In April 2019, voters in a referendum approved constitutional changes in a move that could pave the way for Sisi to stay in power until 2030, official data showed.
Ibrahim said that in next month’s vote, Egyptians abroad would be able to vote on Oct. 21-23.
(Reporting by Mahmoud Mourad and Omar Fahmy; Writing by Nadine Awadalla and Ulf Laessing; Editing by)
