Interim President Adly Mansour decided on Sunday to modify the roadmap and hold the presidential election before the parliamentary elections.
Addressing the nation on state television, Mansour said his decision was based on the results of dialogues he had held with different national forces who preferred to hold the presidential elections first.
The Constitution grants the president the legislative authority to determine which elections would take place first.
Egypt saw violent clashes during the celebration of the third anniversary of the 25 January revolution in which 49 people were killed in Cairo and other governorates, most of whom were supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The president’s announcement comes amid speculation that Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi would no longer be running for president.
Mansour said he would ask the High Elections Commission to open the door to candidacies.
He said the country yesterday and today has seen a number of “black” terrorist acts of which innocent citizens as well as army and police personnel were victims.
“These terrorist acts aim to break the will of the Egyptians, but I say to those terrorists that their despicable acts will not succeed because the will of the people will be stronger,” Mansour said. “The people and the state are determined to uproot your terrorism.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
