Presidential elections will not be moved forward because there needs to be ample time to write the new constitution, said Mansour Hassan, the head of the civilian advisory council to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Hassan told state news agency MENA on Sunday that the advisory council has suggested that Shura Council elections be held in two phases and end on 22 February instead of 12 March. He added that this idea is intended to give parliament and the constituent assembly a better chance of writing the constitution before the presidential elections and the transfer of power on 1 July. "If the constituent assembly fails to finish writing the constitution before the proposed date for presidential elections, the elections will be held at the proposed date and constitution writing will be resumed under a civilian authority,” he said. Political parties welcomed the plans in the belief that they will cut the transition period by a whole month. However, the advisory council said the schedule for handing over power will remain untouched, with the transition ending on 30 June as previously announced. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood also rejected the idea of moving forward the presidential elections, as well as a suggestion to hand presidential powers to the elected parliamentary speaker. However, it welcomed shortening the duration of Shura Council elections after the advisory council made reassurances that power will be handed over at the scheduled date. Ahmed Abou Baraka, legal advisor to the Freedom and Justice Party, praised the move to shorten the transition period and told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the party has no problem with reducing the duration of the Shura Council elections.
