Egypt's PM Suggests Key Election Could Be Postponed

Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf (file photo)

Egypt's prime minister has reportedly said that the country's critical parliamentary elections could be delayed.

The vote, currently set for September, is seen as key to Egypt's political stability after a mass protest movement overthrew then-President Hosni Mubarak in February.

The next legislature will select those responsible for drafting a new constitution, and the news website masrawy.com quoted Essam Sharaf as saying that postponing the vote would give the country's "political landscape" more time to develop.

His comments follow complaints by some political parties that a vote held as early as September will give unfair advantage to the Muslim Brotherhood, currently the country's best-organized political group.

compiled from agency reports