Sisi vows for free and fair elections, calls for unity

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said late on Monday that his government was committed to holding "fair and free" parliamentary elections.

During a meeting with the heads of 15 political parties, Sisi said that his government was keen not to interfere in the making of pre-election coalitions, according to a statement released by the Egyptian Presidency.

The two-day talks were abruptly announced on Sunday, and party leaders were issued invitations to attend but not given a specific agenda.

The talks will continue on Tuesday, where Sisi is expected to meet with another group of party leaders.

Sisi went on to say that the government did not want to interfere in these coalitions to avoid any polarisation, the statement said.

Local media reported that Egyptian authorities were putting their weight behind an electoral list prepared by former Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri.

Other parties that were also present, included the leftist Tagamou Party and the Reform and Development Party, all of which existed during the Mubarak-era.

In a statement released by the Salafist Nour Party, party head Younis Makhioun explained that the Egyptian president urged parties to stay united to face the "dangers that meet the country".

The Salafist figure added that "this requires that there will be no exclusion".

The Nour Party is the only Islamist party that supported the 2013 ouster of Mohamed Morsi and the subsequent political roadmap.

The president's office also said Sisi told the party leaders that the next parliament would enjoy a massive mandate, which made it necessary for voters to carefully select the people who would best represent them in the legislature.

Party responses 

The response to the talks has been pixed. 

The Nasserist al-Karama Party said that it intends to attend the talks on Tuesday, and will discuss the parliamentary elections law and the protest law, which it takes issue with, party member Heba Yassin told Ahram Online.

The Strong Egypt Party headed by former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, however, declined to join the talks.

Monday's meeting was the first between Sisi and party leaders since the former was elected president in May in a highly controversial election which was boycotted by much of the opposition and which excluded the now illegal Muslim Brotherhood. Sisi won the vote with 97 percent. 

Egypt's elections commission said last week that the country's parliamentary elections will begin late March.

The parliamentary elections are the last step on Egypt's transitional roadmap, which was approved by the army and the nation's political and religious forces following the ouster of elected President Mohamed Morsi in July of 2013.

The transitional roadmap also included a referendum on an amended version of the 2012 constitution and presidential election.

Morsi was ousted by the army in July of 2013 after spending one year in power following massive demonstrations against his administration.

British business delegation visits

Following Sisi’s meeting, Tobias Ellwood, the British minister for Middle East affairs, as well as a delegation of British businessmen arrived in Cairo in the early hours of Tuesday, an airport source has told The Anadolu Agency. Relations between Sisi's government and many EU leaders have improved significantly of late, despite initial condemnations about Sisi's human rights record.

Ellwood is leading a group of 40 British businessmen from energy, construction and retail industries on a three-day visit to Egypt to discuss means of boosting British investments in Egypt, the UK's embassy said a day earlier.

The delegation is scheduled to participate in a conference on British business activities in Egypt, the UK mission had said.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab will also attend the conference, according to the embassy.

"As the number one investor in Egypt, Egypt does not have a more important economic partner than Britain," Ellwood was quotes as saying by the British embassy.

"In the last fiscal year, British investment totalled over $5 bn, more than investment from all other countries put together."

"This significant trade mission underlines Britain’s commitment to helping the Egyptian people build a successful future for their country – an Egypt that is more secure, more democratic, and more inclusive," he said.

Sisi had first announced parliamentary elections would be held before the end of March during a US business delegation visit to Cairo in November last year.