Egypt’s parliamentary polls may lead to chaos: ElBaradei

Prominent Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei has recommended that President Mohamed Morsi refrain from the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections, saying that the polls may lead to chaos and instability in the North African nation.
On Sunday, ElBaradei also added that “We need to send a message loud and clear to the people here and outside of Egypt that this is not a democracy.”

According to a decree released by Egyptian Morsi on February 21, the parliamentary election process will happen in four stages beginning April 27 and ending in late June.

On Saturday, ElBaradei likened Egypt’s legislative poll to the “sham democracy” of ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak.

“[I]called for parliamentary election boycott in 2010 to expose sham democracy. Today I repeat my call, will not be part of an act of deception,” the Nobel laureate Tweeted.

Meanwhile, Egyptian state media reported that Morsi was considering changes to the start date of the parliamentary vote because it falls on a Christian holiday.

The president reportedly made the decision after receiving objections from the Coptic Church.

Egypt’s elections come at a time when unrest, insecurity, and an economic crisis are plaguing the North African country. The country is deeply divided with opposition groups accusing the president of trying to monopolize power, a claim Morsi denies.

Leaders of Egypt’s National Salvation Front, an alliance of liberal and secular leaning groups, organized large protests against the president in November and December 2012 after he issued a now-repealed decree that granted him sweeping powers and shielded his decisions from judicial review.