Egypt’s Morsi calls parliamentary elections in April

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has issued a decree calling for a parliamentary election to begin on April 27. It comes as the Islamist leader is trying to stabilize a nation constantly shaken by anti-government protests.

The vote will last until June, and is to be held in four stages in different regions, due to a shortage of poll supervisors.

The new parliament will convene on June 6, states the decree announced late on Thursday.

Egypt’s upper house of parliament - the Shura Council - cleared the way for Morsi to set an election date earlier on Thursday, by adopting an electoral law which was amended by the Constitutional Court.

Under the new Egyptian constitution adopted in December, the president must secure parliament's approval for his choice of prime minister, thus giving the legislature greater power than it had under ousted leader Hosni Mubarak. 

The lower house of parliament – the People’s Assembly - was dissolved last year after the Supreme Court ruled that the original law used in the election was unfair.

Demonstrators have been protesting against President Morsi since mid-November, demanding that he fulfill the goals of the revolution that brought him and his Muslim Brotherhood party to power.