Egypt president says parliament elections to be held in 2015

Egypt’s president says the country’s delayed parliamentary elections will take place before the end of 2015.

In an interview with El Mundo newspaper published Wednesday, a day before his official visit to Spain, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi says: “I give my word - they will be held before the end of the year.”

The parliamentary vote initially was set to take place in phases beginning on March 22. It is the final phase in a transition period following the 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi by the military, led by el-Sissi at the time. He says the vote was delayed because of constitutional appeals.

Egypt has not had an elected legislature since 2012, when the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that parliament’s lower chamber was not constitutionally elected.