Egypt's supreme election commission has proposed to hold elections to the country's parliament starting from November 21, the Al Ahram newspaper said.
Elections to both the upper and lower chambers of parliament will be held in three stages. Polls to choose lawmakers in the lower house, the People's Assembly, will be held from November 21 to January 3, 2012.
The vote to select members of the upper house, the Shura Council, will be held from January 22 to March 4. Al Ahram said single-seat constituencies are likely to be scrapped, with candidates competing only under the party list system.
The announcement comes amid growing popular dissatisfaction with how the reforms are being conducted by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). The "Correct the Path" rally held last Friday to demand the SCAF to speed up power transition to democratically elected authorities turned violent when some protestors attacked the Israeli embassy in Cairo.
Egypt has no democratically elected parliament and executive power after ex-president Hosni Mubarak stepped down in the wake of nationwide protests. The SCAF dismissed the parliament and demanded the constitution to be rewritten or amended.
Under the reform plan, approved at a nationwide referendum in March, the parliament is to be elected first to draft the new constitution. Then a president would be elected.
