After months of uncertainty, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has set November 28 as the date for parliamentary elections in the country, where the state of emergency is in place since 1981.
Mubarak announced the poll date in a decree issued yesterday. A total number of 508 seats are up for grabs after 64 seats were added to the previous Parliament under a quota set aside for women in a bid to empower them.
The elections are not expected to witness much surprises as the opposition, often described by analysts as "tamed", has failed to reach an agreement to boycott the polls or unite against the ruling National Democratic Party.
The only effective opposition party, the Muslim Brotherhood, which occupies 20 per cent of seats in Parliament already, has vowed to contest despite a wave of arrest of its members.
Dozens of Brotherhood members have been arrested in police raids since the group said it would take part in elections. The country has been under the state of emergency since 1981. As per the emergency law, the government has the right to imprison individuals for an indefinite period, without trial.