The Advisory Council for Egypt's military leaders on Tuesday called on them to hasten the announcement of a presidential election timetable, through which they have promised to hand over power to an elected civilian president by the end of June. Osama Borhan, the council's secretary general, told reporters Tuesday the council also urged the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to set criteria for electing members of the constituent assembly that will draft the country's new constitution. The High Judicial Elections Committee, during a press conference Sunday, said it was postponing the timetable announcement to give the Foreign Ministry time to offer suggestions regarding Egyptian expatriate participation. But it reiterated that potential candidates can submit nomination applications starting 10 March. Political forces agree in principle that all political and social sects should be represented in the constituent assembly but disagree on implementation, Borhan said. “The only disagreement is about whether the panel will comprise 55 members from Parliament and 45 from outside or vice versa,” Borhan said. He said the next council meeting on Saturday will handle the requested amendments to Article 28 of the Constitutional Declaration, which grants the elections committee immunity against any legal challenges to the polling process. Borhan said the recently proposed idea of a consensus president is not part of the meeting agenda. “That idea will not be discussed and I think it is inapplicable,” he said. Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
