Egyptian court delays parliamentary polls

Egypt's administrative court on Tuesday ordered that parliamentary elections, set for March 21, be postponed to effect amendments to electoral laws after another top court ruled parts of the poll laws as "unconstitutional".

According to the court's ruling, the parliamentary elections will be held after amendments to the electoral laws are finalised and approved, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Sunday, Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court ruled an electoral law article which regulates the division of the constituencies of the country's upcoming parliamentary elections as "unconstitutional".

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered that the law be redrafted within a month and demanded that "all legal measures be taken to avoid delaying the elections".

Egypt's electoral commission said on Sunday it was preparing a new timetable for the polls.

Egypt's parliamentary polls were supposed to be held from March 21 to May 7 -- the first since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi by the military in July 2013.

Egypt has been without a parliament for three years, after the House of Representatives elected in late 2011 was dissolved in June 2012 in line with a court ruling.