CAIRO, June 2 (UPI) -- Calls to postpone national elections in Egypt are based on the misconception that the Egyptian people don't understand politics, the Muslim Brotherhood said.
The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said the country would have parliamentary elections in September. It didn't announce a date for the presidential election, though that vote is expected after the September contest.
Roughly 40 percent of the eligible voting population in Egypt turned out to vote in a constitutional referendum meant to pave the way for parliamentary and presidential elections this year. The amendments impose term limits on the president and give the judiciary more oversight powers in an election.
Mohamed Badie, chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, criticized those who want to postpone parliamentary elections.
He said this logic was "based on the misperception that the people are infantile and incapable of understanding their own interests or that they are incapable of understanding politics," he was quoted by Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm as saying.
Opponents argue that having parliamentary elections first would give well-established groups like the Muslim Brotherhood an upper hand in Egyptian politics.
The Muslim Brotherhood took 20 percent of the parliamentary seats in 2005 elections.
