CAIRO — Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said Wednesday parliamentary elections could be delayed until October, a postponement that would give his cash-strapped government breathing room to negotiate an IMF deal. Morsi's original plan was for a four-stage election that would start in late April and put a parliament in place by July. But the schedule was turned on its head this month when a court cancelled the presidential decree setting the dates. “Perhaps the elections will be held in the coming October,” state news agency MENA quoted Morsi as saying. He expected the lower house to convene by the end of the year. It will take two and a half months to complete a new election law and another two months to prepare for the vote. The postponement removes one source of friction between Morsi and the secular-minded opposition that had planned to boycott the vote, saying the election law had been drawn up to suit Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists. But other points of tension remain that will complicate his efforts to build the political consensus seen as necessary for passing an IMF deal that will involve austerity measures to curb the state's unaffordable subsidy bill. This week, the opposition accused Morsi of instigating a crackdown on dissidents when the prosecutor general ordered the arrest of five prominent bloggers accused of inciting violence against the Brotherhood. In a blow to Morsi, an appeals court ordered the Justice Ministry to reinstate the former prosecutor general, a Hosni Mubarak-era appointee who was sacked by Morsi. Morsi sacked Mahmud in November, in a decree that granted the president sweeping powers and placed his decisions beyond judicial review. Mahmud was replaced by current prosecutor general, Talaat Abdallah. The decree was eventually repealed under immense street pressure, but the decisions stemming from it were protected by the constitution that was passed in December. Wednesday's ruling comes because the court believes that Morsi acted outside his executive jurisdiction in sacking Mahmud, but “it faces big obstacles,” said Khaled Abubakr, a prominent lawyer. “There is a court decision that needs to be applied, but at the same time there is a decree that is protected by the constitution,” he said. Morsi and the Brotherhood have been the focus of protests that have often turned violent, obstructing his efforts to revive an economy hit by two years of instability since Mubarak was deposed. — Agencies
