FILE - In this July 13, 2012 file photo, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi speaks to reporters at the Presidential palace in Cairo. Egypt's streets have turned into a daily forum for airing a range of social discontents from labor conditions to fuel shortages and the casualties of myriad clashes over the past two years. Newly called parliamentary elections hold out little hope for plucking the country out of the turmoil and if anything, are likely to just fuel unrest and push it toward economic collapse. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
Egypt's main opposition coalition to boycott vote
Published: 02:40:47 PM, Tue 26 February 2013 UTC
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's main opposition coalition has announced it will boycott upcoming parliamentary elections.
The decision by the liberal and secular National Salvation Front was announced in a televised news conference by leading member Sameh Ashour, who also heads Egypt's lawyers' union.
The elections were called last weekend by Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The vote will start in April and be staggered over a two-month period.
Ashour said the decision to boycott the vote was taken unanimously.
The opposition has been calling on Morsi to defuse the nation's political crisis before calling for elections to prevent the country from plunging deeper into chaos. It wants a "neutral" government to replace the one led by Islamist Hesham Kandil, and for steps to be taken to ensure the independence of the judiciary.
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