Egypt: Local elections before 'end of the year'

By Ali Abo Rezeg

CAIRO

After a 10-year hiatus, local elections in Egypt will be held before the end of the year, the head of the country's parliament said Monday.

The last time the local elections were held was in 2008 under former President Hosni Mubarak who ruled Egypt from 1981 to 2011.

"A new law has been prepared for the local polls, and the [parliament's] local administration committee has completed debating it," Egypt's official news agency cited Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Al as telling a plenary session Monday.

"The law will be published soon and the local elections will be conducted before the end of this year."

Following the January 2011 revolution, the local councils were dissolved and since then, there has been no local elections in the country.

Local officials, appointed by the government, have been managing local affairs without any oversight from elected councils.

Cairo had already set a date for local elections in 2017, but necessary legislation had yet to be made.