CAIRO: Egypt's military junta chief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi announced on Monday that the election period for the Upper House of Parliament, the advisory Shura Council, would be shortened. However, the military ruler of Egypt did not say whether this would shorten the transition period to civilian rule over the country, which has seen the military in power for nearly one year. Originally, the Shura Council vote was to take place over three stages, but has been reduced to two stages, the state-run al-Ahram newspaper reported on Monday. According to the decree, voting will take place between January 29 and February 22, Al-Ahram newspaper reported. The shorter period will bring forward the first session of the new Shura Council by three weeks. It will be held on February 28. The third and final round of voting for the lower house of parliament begins Tuesday, in the last nine provinces in the country, and ends on January 11. Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has been ruling the country since the ouster of Mubarak in February, faces public pressure to speed up the transfer of power to a civilian administration. Activists have repeatedly told Bikyamasr.com that if the military does not leave power in the near future, they will organize massive protests on the one-year anniversary of Egypt's 18-day uprising that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak on January 25. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/nNuuN Tags: Elections, featured, SCAF, Shura Council, Tantawi Section: Egypt, Latest News
