Egypt declares new supreme election commission

, Sept 12:

's interim President Adli Mansour issued a decree to form the Supreme Elections Commission (SEC), tasked with supervising parliamentary and presidential elections in the country.

The SEC, presided by the head of Cairo Appeal Court, Nabil Salib, will include 12 judges, reported Xinhua citing the presidential decree.

The panel will have 60 days to review amendments proposed by a 10-member panel

It will also supervise the referendum over the amended constitution after 30 days of its submission by a 50-member panel to the president. This panel, presided by Amr Moussa, is tasked with amending Egypt's constitution.

The panel will have 60 days to review the amendments proposed by a 10-member committee of judges and law professors. Then the final draft will be put for a national referendum.

The country, which has traditionally played a balancing role in the volatile west Asian region, has been going through a dark phase. In 2011, Egypt saw the fall of a long dictatorial rule and was hoping to make a transition towards democracy but the honeymoon period didn't last much long and in mid-2013, the elected president, Mohammed Morsi, was ousted by the army, pushing the country towards the abyss.

IANS